The RCMP’s trial on charges it violated labour standards during its response to a 2014 shooting rampage in Moncton is hearing today from a Mountie who says he expressed concerns to management about the role finances were playing in deploying C8 carbine rifles.
RCMP Supt. Bruce Stuart, an expert in tactical operations, testified in Moncton provincial court that he contributed to a threat risk assessment that would determine how many carbines were needed and which divisions needed them most.
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Stuart told Judge Leslie Jackson that senior management then expressed concerns about how funding the carbines would play out for each division, and added financial components to the assessment.
He said he attempted to stress that the threat risk assessment should not include “the influence of finances,” but the top brass did not see it that way.
The allegations against the RCMP stem from its response to Justin Bourque’s shooting rampage in Moncton, which claimed the lives of three officers and left two others wounded.
Bourque shot each of the officers with a semi-automatic assault rifle.