West Nova MP Chris d’Entremont had an opportunity to ask some tough questions about the Portapique shooting before the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The spree shooting on April 18-19 left 22 people dead along Nova Scotia’s North Shore, and RCMP have been facing mounting criticism for a lack of transparency surrounding the investigation.
The Conservative MP asked Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair if he would call for an independent inquiry into the shooting.
“The only information the families and the public are getting are through the media from heavily-redacted RCMP documents, and they look like they’re hiding something,” he said. “Then the Premier of Nova Scotia saying that it was up to the Prime Minister and the government to call for an independent inquiry.”
Blair said government is working with law enforcement, provincial government stakeholders and our attorney general to put a ‘system in place’ to make sure questions are answered.
“We’re working together to make sure that we put in place a system whereby all of the people of Nova Scotia and Canada can get the answers to the important questions that they have about this terrible crime,” he said. “And if there are lessons to have been learn, we will make sure those lessons are applied so that a terrible tragedy like this cannot happen again.”
The Minister said he understands the families and residents of the province deserve answers but stopped short of agreeing to any type of inquiry.
