Conservatives say they will hold the offices of Justin Trudeau and former Public Safety Minister Bill Blair accountable over allegations the RCMP was pressured during the NS mass shooting investigation due to “promises” RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki made to both.
“This is disgusting to know that the Prime Minister and his office would use the death of Canadians for his own political gain,” Conservative interim leader Candace Bergen said earlier today. “But unfortunately, we have seen it before.”
“We believe very strongly the Prime Minister, his office, and the Minister of Public Safety’s Office, and the Minister of Public Safety, the former Minister [Bill Blair], have to be held accountable. We will make sure that that happens.”
Bergen continues, saying that the Liberals’ track record of lying to cover up scandals is indicative of a trend and makes any claims of no wrongdoing dubious.
“Now, right now, they are denying wrongdoing. This is a pattern. This is what this Prime Minister does. You will recall with SNC-Lavalin, the Globe broke the story and the Prime Minister looked in the camera and said ‘I did not pressure the attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould. We know now that was not true.”
“So, when the Minister of Public Safety looks into the camera and says ‘I did not pressure the Commissioner,’ it’s very, very difficult to believe that.”
The recent allegations stem from a Hamilton Examiner report that details Brenda Lucki allegedly pressured her subordinates into jeopardizing the Nova Scotia massacre investigation to support Justin Trudeau’s incoming gun grab.
The report includes the handwritten letter of an RCMP officer that alleges that Lucki “promised” Trudeau’s 2020 Public Safety Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office that the RCMP would release information about the guns used by the shooter, adding that it would be tied to future gun control legislation.
As per RCMP Support Services Officer Darren Campbell’s handwritten notes that were reported yesterday: “The Commissioner said she had promised the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister’s Office that the RCMP (we) would release this information. I tried to explain… we could not release this information at this time. The Commissioner then said that we didn’t understand, that this was tied to pending gun control legislation that would make officers and the public safer.” [Emphasis added]
To say this is a bombshell is an understatement. We reached out to Lucki for comment, and while she denies allegations that she interfered with the investigation, she says she regrets her conduct in meetings in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I want to acknowledge and address information included in the foundational document issued by the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC). As a police officer, and the RCMP Commissioner, I would never take actions or decisions that could jeopardize an investigation. I did not interfere in the ongoing investigations into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history,” Lucki wrote in an email statement to The Counter Signal.
“It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure, and does not impact the integrity of ongoing investigations or interfere with the independence of the RCMP. I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.”
Calls for her resignation have begun to mount, while Trudeau’s former Public Safety Minister Bill Blair is likewise facing severe scrutiny.
As Bergen noted, former Public Safety Minister and current Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair has also denied allegations of interference during the Nova Scotia mass shooting investigation.
“I think the Commissioner has issued a statement last night which makes very clear that there was no interference. She had a conversation with her subordinates — and that’s her job as the Commissioner — but there was no pressure brought to bear,” Blair said today when questioned.
This position was maintained from yesterday when he was called out in the House of Commons by Conservatives for whatever his role was in possible investigation interference.
Trudeau has yet to release a statement on the allegations, choosing to take a trip to Rwanda to discuss international affairs rather than see his Party through yet another scandal.
