HALIFAX – Glen Canning said the province’s independent report into the handling of his daughter’s case is validation of what the family has been saying for more than two years: the justice system failed Rehtaeh Parsons.
Released on Thursday, the report, which was written by former Ontario prosecutor Murray Segal, found there were a multitude of mistakes made by police officers and the Crown prosecutor’s office when it came to interviewing the Cole Harbour teen, the lack of technology training given to investigators as well as decisions made on whether to pursue charges.
Segal found it was not “unreasonable” for the Crown not to lay sexual assault charges but he found there was human error in the child pornography portion of the case and charges should have been laid.
“We spoke out about it and we had some criticisms and I think they were acknowledged,” Canning said.
Canning said he understands why prosecutors declined to pursue charges of sexual assault.
“I think they made the only call they could make. I think the Crown was basically handed an incomplete investigation and they made a call on it,” he said.
As for prosecutor’s misunderstanding of the law when it came to child pornography charges, Canning said that was tough to hear.
“This could have happened when our daughter was alive. It could have sent the message out that if there was an arrest made then…maybe other students who were doing it would stop doing it,” he said.
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“It’s a really hard pill to swallow that that was just incorrect information that was given to police.”
Canning was critical of findings that the child pornography unit was not as involved in the investigation as it should have been and that investigators had no technology training at the time.
“There was no excuse for that, but it’s a very hard lesson to learn,” he said.
“It’s a lesson our family will never be able to move on from but at the same time it was a lesson.”
READ MORE: Report finds Rehtaeh Parsons “did not receive support and assistance” required
“My hope now is that police have learned something from it and I know they have. You can’t just treat social media like it’s some innocent things kids are doing. It’s a weapon. It’s a powerful weapon. It can end people’s lives.”
Canning said the lack of technology training created ripple effects through his daughter’s case.
“It’s inexcusable, really, the lack of ability to go after people on social media. I don’t think it was malicious intent on the police but it was a mistake from the start and for us that mistake had some god awful consequences,” he said.
“We had to be the ones who had to sit there and watch the consequences of it. We had to watch our daughter fall apart.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP admitted to mistakes in the case and cited a heavy caseload as well as 18 homicides the year Parsons made her complaint.
“That hurts a lot. It would sting, I mean, for us to say this but we had our own personal homicide in our family. Our loss was just a tragic,” he said.
The release of the independent report brings a sense of closure to Canning.
“It just feels like there’s a load taken off your shoulders,” he said.
“It feels like, today, I just feel better. My soul feels a little better. You spend so much time being mean and angry and you’re wound so tight. You can’t even breathe some days. But now it just feels like okay, now we can have a bit of our lives. I think that’s what Rehtaeh would want us to do.”
“Now we can fight for the next victim and make sure, okay what happened to our daughter won’t happen to you. We won’t let it happen to you. That’s the best thing I can ask for.”
Canning said he has no other plans for legal action against any of the individuals or parties involved in his daughter’s case. His next step is to continue the advocacy work he has taken on since his daughter’s passing.
“We think Rehtaeh is an important story to share. I think it deserves to be shared and by sharing, we continue to let our daughter’s voice be heard that we could always do better as people.”
Canning also said he hopes Rehtaeh’s story does not discourage anyone from approaching police for assistance.
“Please know you can trust the police to do everything they can to bring you a sense of justice to your case. Sometimes they make mistakes but they learn from them,” he said.
“From someone who has been there and seen a lot of this, you can trust the police, go to them.”
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