HALIFAX — The Mountie who led the early response to the Nova Scotia mass shooting testified Monday that his plans to block the killer’s escape were thrown off by a subordinate’s “misunderstanding” and a crush of competing duties.
It was one of the miscues that Staff Sgt. Brian Rehill, a risk manager based at the Operational Communications Centre in Truro, said occurred on April 18-19, 2020, as he faced a “tsunami” of information while a murderous rampage unfolded in the village of Portapique.
The public inquiry heard that just after 10:44 p.m. on April 18, Rehill told Const. Chris Grund to station himself at Hillview Lane, a small road off the highway four kilometres east of the community.
Meanwhile, the killer was escaping in a replica RCMP car through back roads at about 10:45 p.m. after murdering 13 of his 22 victims.
It was unclear from Rehill’s testimony precisely how long Grund would have taken to get to the containment point and whether he would have arrived in time to block the gunman. The officer drove past his assigned position straight to the main road’s intersection with the highway, which was to the west of the dirt-road exit the killer used.
“There probably was a misunderstanding,” Rehill said under questioning from commission counsel Roger Burrill.
“I guess in the busyness of the moment … maybe it didn’t get clarified good enough, and he went past that (location) I believe,” he testified. “I have to own that …. I could have followed up and made sure and said ‘Chris, are you sure you are where I want you?’”
The public inquiry made special accommodations for Rehill’s testimony for health reasons. These included an exemption from being cross-examined by lawyers representing families of the victims, and the hearing was closed to the public. Its contents were only approved for release at the end of the day’s hearing.
Rehill, who has been off work for 18 months, was direct and matter-of-fact in answering questions from Burrill for about four hours before quickly fielding questions submitted by other lawyers. He completed his testimony with a statement offering condolences to the victims’ families.
“It must be so terribly hard for all of them. It’s a very sad circumstance (and) very tragic,” he said. “But I want people to bear in mind … that we’re human beings. We put on a uniform when we go to work. We put our lives at risk all the time.”
The senior officer said he still suffers from nightmares, poor sleep and constant reminders of what happened in April 2020.
“Everybody that night and the following day had their heart and soul into this,” he said. “They were doing their best. (But) when you dissect it, we could have done better. We’re not denying that. There’s ways we could improve …. We’re people, too. Everybody’s traumatized.”
In morning testimony, Burrill asked Rehill if there was a way he could have checked on Grund and sent him to his originally assigned position.
Rehill replied he didn’t think he would have viewed Grund’s position with concern, as the maps he was looking at led him to believe there wasn’t an alternative way out of Portapique. He also noted that if the officer had been at the appointed spot, there was a chance he could have been “executed” by the gunman.
Burrill played a brief radio transmission from Const. Vicki Colford at 10:48 p.m. on April 18 saying there was “a kind of a road” the killer could have taken to escape other than the road at which she was stationed. Rehill told the commission he didn’t recall hearing this information, as he was busy with other duties.
He commented that his decision-making in general was affected by the huge flow of information. “It was a lot for me,” he said. “It was frustrating.”
However, lawyers for victims’ families have noted that there were also flaws in the RCMP’s ability to use its own resources and technology.
For example, while Rehill said he couldn’t see small roads on his maps, the inquiry has already received evidence from a supervisor at the Operational Communications Centre that she couldn’t access high-quality maps on the night of the attack due to an inability to find the proper passwords.
A study released last week said the aerial-based maps — known as Pictometry — would have given Rehill a clearer view of the killer’s escape route alongside a blueberry field.
Burrill also asked Rehill about why in the middle of the response he was dealing with provincial Child and Family Services, who were calling about four children whose parents were killed in Portapique. The lawyer suggested that task could have been delegated.
Rehill agreed: “It’s like another task that someone else could be doing.”
He said he understood he was supposed to step back when Staff Sgt. Jeff West took over at 1:23 a.m. on April 19, but he kept providing direction anyway. Burrill pointed out that Rehill remained involved in the operation until 3 a.m.
Rehill said he believes that improved models for the early management of active shootings should be developed, with more risk managers dividing up the work.
“We could have a situation where three or four risk managers come in,” each with a different task, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2022.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
