13 avril 2023
This will be the final update from the Commissioners and includes information about the Final Report, as well as what to expect as the Commission finishes its work.
On March 30, 2023, Turning the Tide Together – the Final Report of the Mass Casualty Commission, was released in Truro, Nova Scotia and delivered to the Governors in Council of Nova Scotia and of Canada.
About the Report
The Final Report shares our detailed findings of what happened, how and why, and addresses each specific area outlined in our Orders in Council. The Report is organized thematically across seven volumes:
- Volume 1: Context and Purpose
- Volume 2: What Happened
- Volume 3: Violence
- Volume 4: Community
- Volume 5: Policing
- Volume 6: Implementation
- Volume 7: Process
An Executive Summary of the Final Report, which includes lessons learned, main findings and recommendations, is also available. The recommendations in the Report address topics outlined in our mandate including:
- Access to firearms
- Communications between and within law enforcement agencies and other services
- Communications with the public, including public alerting
- Gender-based and intimate partner violence
- Police actions, including operational tactics, response, decision-making and supervision
- Police policies, procedures and training
- Prior interactions, and any relationship of the perpetrator, with the police and social services
- The steps taken to inform, support and engage those most affected.
All documents related to the Report can be found on the Final Report page of the Commission’s website.
Accessibility features to align with AODA compliance will be added to the report volumes in the coming weeks. The French translation of the Final Report is also underway and will be posted on the Commission’s French website, CommissionDesPertesMassives.ca/rapport-final/.
What Happened Timeline
An important part of the Commission’s mandate was to determine what happened during the mass casualty on April 18 and 19, 2020. After the mass casualty, Nova Scotians, Canadians and those beyond our borders had many questions due to a lack of information. Throughout public proceedings, thousands of documents were introduced, showing the complexity of events, many of which happened at overlapping times. While these documents were extensive, we wanted to create an accessible way to understand what was happening when.
To meet this need, the Commission developed an interactive What Happened Timeline. The timeline, along with supporting documentation, is available on the Commission’s website.
Winding Down
With the release of the final report, we have fulfilled the mandate set out in our Orders in Council. As of April 14, 2023, the information, media and participation emails, as well as the Commission’s social media accounts, will no longer be active or monitored. The Commission website and its content will remain as is for at least one year, after which all of the content, including documents and videos, will be archived and available through Library and Archives Canada and the Privy Council Office Commissions of Inquiry website, Commissions of inquiry - Canada.ca.
Shared Responsibility
As we stated when releasing the Report, turning the tide on the underlying causes of violence in our communities will take courage, commitment, and collaboration. The courage to admit that we face a set of interconnected and complex challenges, which means we must resist the default to simplistic answers and impulsive responses that have failed us all too often in the past. As a country, we need the commitment to keep going month after month, year after year, making steady improvements and sustained efforts to shift entrenched values, fix broken systems, and make violence prevention our guiding star. Most important of all, it will take collaboration from all Canadians – including leaders, policy-makers, first responders, service providers, public institutions, community groups, and members of the public.
By working together, you helped us develop meaningful, practical, and sustainable recommendations for the future. Now we call on you to help implement them and make our communities safer for everyone. We all have work to do. It is time to act.
Thank you and take care.
Sincerely,
The Mass Casualty Commission
Hon. J. Michael MacDonald, Chair
Leanne J. Fitch (Ret. Police Chief, M.O.M.)
Dr. Kim Stanton