Women’s groups demand public inquiry of Nova Scotia shooting to expose police failures

Women’s rights activists in Canada are demanding a full public inquiry into the Nova Scotia shooting that left 22 dead, after the federal and provincial governments chose a closed-door examination of the crimes.

Supporters of an open inquiry gathered on Monday in a Halifax park and on a Facebook livestream, and called on the provincial legislature to mandate the public investigation, four days after the governments announced their intention to hold a review panel instead of an inquiry.

Activists say police ignored red flags including the gunman’s record of violence and domestic abuse. They also say that once the 13-hour shooting spree began on 18 April, police failed to adequately warn the public. A public inquiry would deliver more transparency and accountability than a review panel, they argue.

“We don’t want the events of what happened in Nova Scotia to be something that gets buried. We want it out, we want it public, we want to understand what happened so that we can heal – but also so that we can begin to make the structural changes, to our laws to ensure that type of violent act never happens again,” said Jenny Wright, a longtime women’s rights activist and co-organizer.

The episode began when Gabriel Wortman assaulted his girlfriend, then took off in a fake police cruiser with several firearms and began killing people across the province, according to witnesses and police.

Wortman, who was killed by a police officer at a gas station, had previously been reported to Canadian police for domestic violence and illegal firearms. Friends, family and neighbours knew him to be violent.

But last Thursday the federal and provincial governments announced that instead of holding a public inquiry they would convene an expert review panel composed of a former provincial chief justice, a former federal cabinet minister and a former New Brunswick police chief.

The governments have defended the decision. Nova Scotia’s attorney general, Mark Furey, told the media last week: “The panel will do what I believe to be exhaustive, competent and thorough work, and we look forward to the recommendations.”

But Wright said a public inquiry is necessary to fully expose how police fail to recognize the links between gun violence, misogyny and violence against women.

“The Montreal massacre [in which a gunman killed 14 women and injured 14 others], the Toronto van attack – which was perpetrated by an incel – and this incident in Nova Scotia [are] all deeply rooted in misogyny and violence against women, and if we don’t begin to acknowledge that this is happening, then we’re never going to make the necessary changes needed to ensure it doesn’t happened again,” she said.

The review panel’s report is expected in August 2021.