HALIFAX — The Mountie in charge of the RCMP’s initial response to the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia is expected to testify before an inquiry Monday, but the public will be barred from listening.
For unspecified health reasons, Staff Sgt. Brian Rehill has been granted permission to testify via a Zoom call, which will be recorded and released to the public at a later date.
Rehill has also been exempted from facing cross-examination by lawyers representing relatives of the 22 people killed on April 18-19, 2020. That decision last week prompted most of the families to boycott the proceedings,and some staged a protest outside the hearings in Truro, N.S.
The backlash is believed to be unprecedented for a public inquiry on this scale.
“I have never encountered a situation like this where the commissioners of a public inquiry appear to have lost the confidence and trust of key parties and potentially the general public,” said Ed Ratushny, professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa and author of the 2009 book, “The Conduct of Public Inquiries.”
“My opinion is that this commission must have lost sight of the fundamental, crucial role of a public inquiry. Instead of a full public process of fact-finding, it has … limited opportunities to challenge its investigation.”
As well, Ratushny said the commission of inquiry should adhere to the legal principle of “fairness,” which states that administrative tribunals must allow participants to “test the evidence … through vigorous questioning.”
A second senior Mountie, Sgt. Andy O’Brien, has been granted the same accommodations as Rehill. O’Brien is expected to testify behind closed doors on Tuesday.
In a statement Friday, the commission defended its approach. “Given the health information provided, allowing the witnesses to provide evidence this way will reduce the stress and time pressure that arises from giving oral evidence in live proceedings,” it said. “This format will facilitate the testimony and therefore provide clear evidence.”
Participating lawyers, including those representing victims’ families, were asked to provide questions for Rehill and O’Brien, but it will be up to the commission to decide what questions are put to the witnesses. Once the first round of questioning is done, participating lawyers will be asked if they have more questions.
The commission has said the reasons behind the special arrangements must remain confidential because its decision is based on private personal information, such as physical or psychological health needs.
In an earlier interview with commission lawyers, Rehill confirmed he had been off work for 16 months after the tragedy, saying he struggled with questions about the decisions he made.
For some of the victims’ relatives, the commission should never have offered the two Mounties an exemption from cross-examination.
“If the officers who were in charge … can’t get on the stand and defend the decisions that they made, then there’s something wrong with this whole process,” Charlene Bagley said Thursday during the Truro protest. Her father, Tom, was fatally shot by the gunman early on April 19, 2020, as he was out for a walk in West Wentworth, N.S.
Bagley said cross-examination is a must.
“It’s easy to sit there and tell the story you’ve been told to tell,” she said. “It’s a lot harder to face hard questions. The truth hurts, but we need it.”
Nova Scotia lawyer Adam Rodgers, who has been analyzing the inquiry’s progress on his blog, said that kind of anger is justified.
“Participants have been marginalized throughout the … proceedings, and the inability to effectively cross-examine witnesses is central to that marginalization,” Rodgers said in an email.
On May 19, the Nova Scotia RCMP issued a statement saying the inquiry would be violating its own rules if Mounties who endured trauma were called to testify without some form of accommodation. The inquiry’s mandate calls for it to adopt a trauma-informed approach.
Toronto-based lawyer John Mather, who has worked on inquiries as commission counsel, said the Mass Casualty Commission — as it is formally known — is facing a challenge because it can’t reveal why Rehill and O’Brien were granted special status.
“I believe they must have seen some real concern that … testimony under cross-examination could create a real risk of trauma for these two officers,” Mather said in a recent interview.
“At the same time, I empathize with the victims’ families because they really don’t know why that decision was made, and that question will probably never be answered.”
As for the assertion that the inquiry may be facing a loss of public trust, Mather said the impact of the special accommodations won’t be known until the commission submits its final report on Nov. 1.
“The importance of these officers’ testimony cannot be understated,” he said. “Will there be a gap because of the decision and the boycott? It’s hard to say …. The (final) report could be excellent, but it could still suffer from a lack of public confidence.”
On the night of April 18, 2020, Rehill was the RCMP’s risk manager at its Operational Communications Centre in Truro, N.S. When the centre received 911 calls confirming an active shooter was on the loose in Portapique, N.S., Rehill immediately assumed command.
Though O’Brien was off duty and had consumed four to five drinks of rum at home, he retrieved his portable radio from the detachment — with the help of his wife — and joined in offering direction to responding officers.
The inquiry has heard there was confusion over who was in charge that night. Commissioner Leanne Fitch, a former chief of police in Fredericton, said testimony had revealed “a considerable breakdown in communication.”
Vancouver Canucks winger Dakota Joshua has announced he’ll miss the start of training camp following surgery for testicular cancer.
Joshua said in a statement posted to social media by the team Tuesday that he felt a lump on one of his testicles this summer and later had surgery to successfully remove the tumour.
The 28-year-old from Dearborn, Mich., said he plans on returning to play “as soon as possible” and is “working hard every day” to rejoin his teammates.
Joshua said the last several weeks have been “extremely challenging” and encouraged men to get checked regularly for testicular cancer.
The six-foot-three, 206-pound forward had a career-high 18 goals and 14 assists in 63 games for the Canucks last season and signed a new four-year, US$13-million deal with Vancouver at the end of June.
The Canucks are set to open their training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – Coach John Herdman isn’t putting too much stock in the fact that Toronto FC, since losing 4-0 in Columbus on July 6, has posted a better league record than the defending MLS champion.
Toronto, which beat visiting Austin 2-1 on Saturday, has won four of six league outings (4-2-0) since that setback at Lower.com Field while the Crew are 3-2-2.
“I don’t put any credence (in that),” said Herdman. “I just look at their squad and I salivate.”
Its easy to see why.
Columbus provided a league-high five players to the MLS all-star game on its home field in July in defenders Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira, midfielder/captain Darlington Nagbe and forwards Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi.
Herdman sees layers of talent behind those all-stars.
“You see the way that they’re able to almost carbon-copy players. One comes in, another goes out … and they feel like they have a very similar profile. So to be able to take (Christian) Ramirez out and then bring (Canadian forward Jacen) Russell-Rowe in as a power forward, you look and go ‘Whoa, that’s good to have.'”
Federico Bernardeschi was Toronto’s lone all-star.
Columbus (14-5-8) comes to BMO Field on Wednesday in third place in the Eastern Conference, five places and 14 points ahead of Toronto (11-15-3). A playoff position already clinched, the Crew are hoping to leapfrog Cincinnati into second spot.
Coach Wilfried Nancy is looking forward to matching wits against Herdman.
“John is going to cook (up) something,” the Frenchman said with a belly laugh. “I know John. When we played a game in (the) pre-season, it wasn’t a pre-season game. It was a real game. But this is John. That’s why I like him, because he’s intense all the time.”
“They’re going to try to go all-in. They’re going to try to press us, they’re going to try to match us,” he added. “They know exactly the way we want to play so we’ll have to be clever and creative also.”
Herdman, meanwhile, says TFC will have to play error-free football.
While the Crew have failed to score in their last two outings (a 4-0 loss to visiting Seattle and 0-0 draw at rival FC Cincinnati), Toronto is hurting in its backline.
Nicksoen Gomis and Henry Wingo both left the Austin game early with hamstring injuries with Herdman estimating that Gomis will be out three to four weeks and Wingo 10-12 days. Veteran Kevin Long missed the Austin game after tweaking his hamstring in training and will undergo a fitness test ahead of the game.
Shane O’Neill, meanwhile, is suspended for yellow-card accumulation.
“A tricky situation,” said Herdman.
The Crew are a formidable opponent.
Columbus is tied with Real Salt Lake for fifth in the league in averaging 1.93 goals a game. Only Inter Miami (2.32), Portland Timbers (2.00), Los Angeles Galaxy (1.97) and Colorado Rapids (1.96) score more.
And Columbus boasts the league’s stingiest defence, conceding 1.04 goals a game. In contrast, the Toronto defence is tied for 22nd at 1.76 goals a game.
Toronto has conceded 51 goals, 23 more than Columbus, which has collected more points (7-3-4, 25 points) on the road in league play this season than Toronto has at home (7-7-0, 21 points).
Columbus’ roster also includes Canadian wingback Mo Farsi, who scored in the July win over Toronto.
The Columbus game is the first of four in an 11-day stretch that will see TFC club visit Colorado on Saturday, Vancouver on Sept. 25 in the Canadian Championship final and Chicago on Sept. 28. Toronto will then close out the regular season at home to the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 2 and Inter Miami on Oct. 5.
If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, Toronto would face ninth-place D.C. United in a wild-card matchup with the winner advancing to take on the East’s top seed — currently Miami — in the best-of-three first round.
Herdman would like a different scenario, with his eyes set on overtaking seventh-place Charlotte, which has two points and a game in hand over Toronto. The seventh-place side takes on No. 2 — currently Cincinnati — in the first round.
“We’re looking up, not down at the moment,” said Herdman. “It’s a good motivation for the lads to see that next level on the table. And it has been raised. If we’re able to get to that point, it means you’re not headed down to Miami in the heat, which is a tough place to go.”
“We’ll take whatever comes,” he added. “But the critical part is to get into these playoffs. That’s the key mission at the moment.”
Toronto has not made the post-season since 2020 when, after finishing second overall in the Supporters’ Shield standings, it was upset by Nashville after extra time at the first hurdle.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins placed Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve Tuesday after the quarterback was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years.
Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games. He will be eligible to return in Week 8 when the Dolphins host Arizona, but has to complete a series of tests and assessments required by the NFL’s concussion protocol before he can return to the field.
Tagovailoa was hurt last Thursday night when he collided with Buffalo defensive back Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and then initiated the contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.
Players from both teams immediately motioned that Tagovailoa was hurt, and as he lay on the turf the quarterback exhibited some signs typically associated with a traumatic brain injury. He remained down on the field for a couple of minutes, got to his feet and walked to the sideline. The Dolphins diagnosed him with a concussion a few minutes later.
Coach Mike McDaniel has since cautioned against speculation on the quarterback’s future, stressing that he’s more focused on Tagovailoa getting healthy than what this latest concussion means for the team or for his career. Tagovailoa this week began the process of consulting neurologists about his health amid reports that he has no plans to retire.
Others around the NFL have offered their opinions on Tagovailoa’s future, including Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, who suggested he should retire.
“As far as Tua’s career is concerned, I think it’s an utmost priority of mine for Tua to speak on Tua’s career,” McDaniel said Monday. “Reports are reports. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just worried about the human being and where that’s at day to day. I’ll let Tua be the champion of his own career.”
McDaniel said Tagovailoa was at the team’s practice facility on Monday, greeting teammates and working with trainers.
“He’s doing good, man. Talked to him, he’s in good spirits,” receiver Jaylen Waddle said Monday. “(He’s) got the team in good spirits and everybody praying for him and hoping (for his) health.”
Head injuries have become a familiar, scary occurrence throughout Tagovailoa’s career.
In a September 2022 game against the Bills, he took a hit from linebacker Matt Milano, which caused him to slam to the ground. He appeared disoriented afterward and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet. He was cleared to return to that game and later said it was a back injury that caused the stumble. He was not diagnosed with a concussion.
Four days later, he got hit again during a Thursday night game at Cincinnati in which he was briefly knocked unconscious and was taken off the field on a stretcher. As he lay on the turf, his fingers appeared to display the “fencing response,” an involuntary motion typically associated with a brain injury. That time, he was placed in the concussion protocol.
The NFL and the players’ union made changes to the concussion protocol after those two incidents with Tagovailoa. Players who have problems with balance or stability are now prohibited from returning to a game.
Tagovailoa briefly considered retirement, but instead returned and studied ways to better protect himself on the field, including taking jiu-jitsu classes ahead of the 2023 season.
Tagovailoa has said he spoke to numerous neurologists who told him they did not believe he would be more susceptible to head injuries than any other player moving forward, nor would he be at a higher risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head. He was also diagnosed with a concussion while in college at Alabama.
With Tagovailoa sidelined, the Dolphins will go with backup Skylar Thompson when play at Seattle on Sunday. Miami also signed Tyler Huntley off the Ravens’ practice squad.
