HALIFAX —
New information released by court order now reveals the types of firearms the perpetrator of Canada’s worst mass murder had with him when he was shot and killed by RCMP after his 13-hour killing rampage.
On the night of April 18, the killer set fire to several homes and killed 13 people in Portapique, N.S., before evading police later that night. Gabriel Wortman carried out his crimes while dressed as a Mountie and driving a vehicle made to look like an RCMP cruiser.
He went on to kill nine more people at locations throughout Colchester County the next morning. One of the victims was pregnant when she was shot and killed in her vehicle.
RCMP investigators had indicated earlier that the guns used by Gabriel Wortman in the killings were obtained illegally.
On Wednesday, new details revealed in RCMP search warrant applications, list the exact firearms found in the vehicle he was using shortly before he was killed by police at the Irving Big Stop gas station in Enfield, N.S. April 19.
Those details confirm the guns were illegally obtained in both Canada and the United States.
According to information provided by RCMP Sgt. Larry Peyton, two semi-automatic rifles were found in the vehicle. A Colt’s Law Enforcement Carbine rifle was engaged in the “fire” position, loaded with a full over-capacity magazine. There were three other over-capacity magazines present, designed to hold thirty rounds each. Sgt. Peyton sourced the firearm to a gun shop in California.
The second rifle was a Ruger Mini 14, also loaded with an over-capacity magazine. There was also three other such magazines present, each capable of holding forty rounds. That firearm was traced back to a gun store in Winnipeg.
The killer did not have a firearms licence. Over-capacity magazines for semi-automatic firearms are illegal in Canada.
“He had tremendous firepower,” says CTV Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis, a former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner. “He had as much firepower as the responding police officers had in terms of the semi-automatic rifles, with large magazine capacities, and handguns. The magazines alone were illegal, let alone the fact he wasn’t allowed to have any firearms in his possession.”
The new information also indicates the shooter had two pistols with him: a Glock 23 and a Ruger P89. Both were equipped with laser sights. The RCMP tracked both guns back to an unnamed gun shop in Maine.
The fifth gun in the shooter’s possession at the time of his death, was the Smith and Wesson 9mm issued to RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson. The officer was shot and killed by the gunman during the intensive police manhunt.
Documents also indicate that Sgt. Peyton found a business card for a gun store in Maine while executing a search warrant at the shooter’s dental practice in Dartmouth. The card for Bob and Tom’s Gun Shop in Mattawamkeag, Maine, included the name, Bob Berg.
CTV News called the number listed for the gun shop. A woman who identified herself as Robert Berg Sr.’s spouse told CTV News she didn’t recognize the shooter’s name, nor had she heard about the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. She told CTV the shop closed down after her husband had a stroke several years ago. When pressed further, she hung up.
Last Friday, investigators charged three people – including the shooter’s common law partner and her brother – with unlawfully transferring ammunition to Gabriel Wortman.
Lisa Diana Banfield, 52, and James Blair Banfield, 64, both of Dartmouth, and Brian Brewster, 60, of Sackville, are accused of providing the shooter with .223-calibre Remington and .40-calibre Smith and Wesson cartridges between March 17 and March 18.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Police have said there is no indication the three had any prior knowledge of the gunman’s actions.
The newly released information does suggest the gunman behind the April mass shooting in Nova Scotia had planned to “get” someone in Halifax during his murderous rampage. Those details are included in a partially redacted statement from Lisa Banfield.
The documents describe how police in Halifax went to a residence, located her and another unknown individual, and “provided them security as Gabriel Wortman had not been located.
The details released Tuesday also include a statement from a witness described as a friend of the shooter, who first met him in 2011. That statement suggests the shooter had two crates of grenades “that he got from the U.S.”
The lawyer representing the families of those killed says there is some evidence to support that.
“Actually one of the family members found wooden ammunition cases at the Portapique site,” says Robert Pineo. “Of course that evidence has been preserved, but it was wooden containers, which most people understand, explosive devices are packed in wooden containers.”
Pineo says the families of those killed have a long list of questions they would like answered. He says so far, it seems those answers may only come through the courts, or in the forthcoming joint public inquiry.
“The really pressing ones, they would like to know more information regarding the killer’s escape from Portapique, more information about the lack of public alerts by some medium other than social, and more information regarding the days leading up to the massacre starting.”
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says 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 in what was the company’s third quarter 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.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
