Lawyers frustrated with mass shooting inquiry in Nova Scotia as deadlines loom
HALIFAX — Eighteen months after a public inquiry was established in Nova Scotia to investigate the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history, lawyers representing most of the 22 victims say they are troubled about its slow progress and lack of witness testimony.
“We’re frustrated with the pace,” said Josh Bryson, a lawyer whose firm represents the family of Peter and Joy Bond, a retired couple in their 70s who were fatally shot in their home in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020.
With less than six months remaining before the inquiry’s three commissioners are due to submit a final report to the federal and provincial governments, lawyer Tara Miller said the inquiry is running out of time, given the amount of evidence that has yet to be heard.
“We have a daunting calendar with a very tight timeline,” said Miller, who represents a relative of victim Kristen Beaton, a nurse and pregnant mother of one who was gunned down while sitting in her car in Debert, N.S., on April 19, 2020. “The calendar is jam-packed.”