OTTAWA — A video the Parliament Hill shooter recorded before killing a soldier and storming Centre Block is expected to be seen publicly for the first time on Friday.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson agreed to appear before the House of Commons public safety committee. A notice posted on the committee website Tuesday afternoon indicates the one-hour meeting would be held in public and televised.
Paulson will “publicly display and discuss the video made by the individual who committed barbaric terrorist acts in Ottawa,” according to the first version of the notice.
The wording of the notice was quietly changed, however, to indicate the commissioner would “brief” the committee on the video Michael Zehaf-Bibeau taped prior to his attack.
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The RCMP, meanwhile, wrote an email to Global News Tuesday morning saying Paulson intends to provide an update on the investigation into the Oct. 22 shooting.
“The video made by Zehaf-Bibeau prior to his attacks at the War Memorial and Parliament Hill will also be examined,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox wrote.
The national police force had previously said it may not release the full video Zehaf-Bibeau made before his deadly attack, which police recovered in the early stages of the investigation.
Paulson had said the video laid out the shooter’s reasons for attacking the Hill. Since the footage formed a central part of police evidence of that day, the commissioner said the police force would have to “think thoroughly” about the potential benefits of releasing the video.
New Democrat public safety critic Randal Garrison, who sits on the committee that invited Paulson to testify last month, said he could accept that logic at first, but only for a limited time.
“Paulson commented on the video and offered his opinion on the attacker’s motives, based on the video,” Garrison said in an interview. “I understand why it may have been held back, but it’s only one piece of evidence in the investigation.”
The New Democrat MP from British Columbia said he’d ask Paulson during Friday’s meeting when Canadians can expect the full report on his investigation into the attack.
The government also applauded the RCMP’s decision to release the tape.
“We are pleased that the RCMP has made the decision to publicly release and discuss the video made by the individual who committed barbaric terrorist acts in Ottawa,” Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney’s spokesman said.
The attack left Cpl. Nathan Cirillo dead while he was standing guard at the National War Memorial. The shooter, Zehaf-Bibeau, was killed moments later in a gunfight inside Centre Block, just outside the Library of Parliament.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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