BIBLE HILL, N.S. — Family members of victims were joined by supporters in a march today demanding a public inquiry into the April mass shooting that left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia.
About 280 people marched from a grocery store parking lot to the RCMP headquarters in Bible Hill, N.S.
The event was organized by families of the victims to protest the delay in calling a full public inquiry more than three months after the April 18-19 rampage in central and northern Nova Scotia.
People carried signs in memory of each victim and chanted, “We demand answers” as they walked the three blocks.
Organizers Nick Beaton, whose wife Kristen Beaton was killed, and Darcy Dobson, who lost her mother Heather O’Brien, said the action was on behalf of all 22 families.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey has said the provincial and federal governments are still ironing out details of how an inquiry would work, and he has attributed delays to technicalities.
“There was supposed to be an announcement over a month ago, and there hasn’t been,” Dobson told reporters, adding that the families deserve transparency.
Beaton said there is much to be learned about the killings and the police response. “The RCMP has things to learn. The public inquiry will help them learn what didn’t happen right,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2020.
The Canadian Press
