On the three-month anniversary of the Nova Scotia shooting rampage, the worst massacre in Canada’s history, there is still no word about a public inquiry into what happened.
Saturday, more than 30 Canadian senators joined Nova Scotian senators Wanda Thomas Bernard, Stan Kutcher, Colin Deacon, Stephen Greene and Mary Coyle in signing a letter to N.S. ministers about a pressing need to establish a public inquiry into the mass shooting.
“Only a comprehensive, open and fully transparent process will be able to address the complexities of this massacre and answer the legitimate questions and concerns of Nova Scotians and Canadians,” read the letter.
On April 18 and 19, a gunman killed 22 people over a 13-hour shooting spree.
The rampage began in Portapique, N.S., and ended roughly 100 kilometres away outside a gas station in Enfield, N.S., where the shooter was killed by police.
During the shootings, the killer wore an authentic police uniform and drove a replica police vehicle.
This is the third letter Nova Scotian senators have sent to Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair and Minister of Justice Mark Furey in connection to the public inquiry.
The first was sent on June 7, and another one on June 29, neither of which yielded results.
“Action on this has not been taken and there is no clear public explanation as to why.”
The third letter is the first time out-of-province senators were included.
This time the signees also expanded their call to include Minister Kelly Regan, who is responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women Act, Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef and Canada’s Attorney General David Lametti.
The additional ministers were included to ensure a feminist lens is used in the investigation, and “to ensure that a fulsome picture of the events that led to this atrocity are understood and ultimately addressed,” the letter said.
It also said their call is urgent, and that “lack of an announcement of this inquiry is fueling speculation.”
Speculation, it said, results in gossip that puts the public’s trust in jeopardy.
“Nova Scotians and Canadians need to know what happened or did not happen and what might be done to identify and act on the warning signs that might help to prevent such tragedies in the future,” it read.
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