By Ismail Shakil
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Officials reviewing Canada’s worst mass shooting called for police reforms, stricter gun safety regulations and better public communication on Thursday after an investigation found many shortcomings in authorities’ response to the incident in 2020.
In April 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, disguised in a police uniform and driving a fake police car, shot and killed 22 people, set houses on fire and even killed pets in a 13-hour rampage in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.
He was killed by police at a gas station about 90 km (60 miles) from the site of his first killings in Portapique.
The deadly rampage shocked a country where mass violence is rare.
Police faced criticism for their response, including for not using a provincial alert system to warn people a gunman was on the loose, and a Mass Casualty Commission was set up in October, 2020 to conduct a public inquiry.
The commission released its findings and offered some 130 recommendations in a seven-part, over 3,000-page report on Thursday.
“While we acknowledge and commend the individual actions and courage of many first responders, the overarching approach and response by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as an institution had many shortcomings. These must be addressed and responses must be improved,” said commissioner Leanne Fitch, one of the three officials who conducted the inquiry.
The commission recommended increasing transparency and accountability for RCMP oversight, improving critical incident response capabilities, and focusing more on everyday policing practices. It also calls for a national review of public alerting system and an increase in the availability of mental health services.
The inquiry also found that Wortman illegally owned at least five firearms, including three smuggled into Canada from the United States, that could have been prevented with better police oversight and coordination between enforcement agencies.
“There is a lack of community knowledge about the Canadian firearms regime. It is influenced by the United States discourse centred on a right to bear arms which does not exist in our constitutional and legal structure,” the commission said.
Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license. The Trudeau government has been trying to tackle gun violence through measures introduced after the Nova Scotia shooting as well as more recent actions, including a handgun freeze announced last year.
The commission recommended that federal and regional governments should adopt “legislation affirming that gun ownership is a conditional privilege.” It also recommended that possessing ammunition and buying firearm magazines should require a licence and that the federal government should establish limits on the stockpiling of ammunition.
“Priority should be placed on reducing access to the most dangerous, high-capacity firearms and ammunition in recognition of the risks they pose and the fact they do not serve a hunting or sporting purpose,” the report said.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
