HALIFAX – The RCMP and governments have plenty of work to do before they complete changes recommended by an inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia that claimed the lives of 22 people, an independent committee says.
In an annual report released Thursday, the progress monitoring committee — appointed by the federal and Nova Scotia governments — said it reviewed 14 categories of recommendations and found that police and government officials had completed taking action on only two of those categories.
Despite those numbers, committee chairwoman Myra Freeman told a news conference she was pleased with the progress to date, adding the rate of change can never be fast enough.
As well, she praised the RCMP for implementing recommendations related to governance and critical incident response engagement.
“The RCMP have shown solid, serious commitment to these recommendations,” said Freeman, a former lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. “They are working diligently at their end.”
The 50-page report emphasizes that progress is being made on several other fronts, including emergency management, regulatory oversight, mental wellness and gender-based violence prevention. And the Mounties’ efforts to improve public warnings and other aspects of critical incident response are described as on track.
Meanwhile, the report says the federal Justice Department’s progress on implementing recommendations regarding supports for victims received the lowest rating, indicating its work had only been “initiated.”
Department officials told the committee about the Victims Fund, which supports projects that improve access to justice and increase awareness of services for victims of crime, among other things.
“The (committee) acknowledged that a great deal of the research and engagement work has been done by the (department),” the report says. “But more specific examples are needed on which communities have been engaged and how funding is supporting marginalized communities in Nova Scotia.”
The committee’s second annual report marks the first time it has evaluated the response of the RCMP. Its first report, released last November, said little about the police force.
Instead, Freeman chose at the time to focus on the two governments’ progress on implementing gender-based violence prevention programs. She also cited progress on a national plan to end gender-based violence.
A month later, however, a committee member said survivors of gender-based violence had complained to her about a lack of government action.
On Thursday, Freeman said gender-based violence would be a key theme for the committee to assess in its third and final year.
The latest report was released more than five years after a lone gunman disguised as a Mountie went on a 13-hour rampage through northern and central Nova Scotia before he was shot dead by two Mounties north of Halifax on April 19, 2020.
In March 2023, the federal-provincial Mass Casualty Commission issued 130 recommendations, most of them aimed at improving public safety, reforming the national police force, limiting access to firearms and addressing the root causes of gender-based violence.
About half of its recommendations focused on policing.
The inquiry’s seven-volume report went so far as to suggest Ottawa should rethink the RCMP’s central role in Canadian policing, and it offered withering criticism of the Mounties’ response to the shootings. Its final report found the RCMP missed warning signs about the killer, including reports of domestic violence, his possession of illegal firearms, and his repeated run-ins with the law.
Among other things, it also found the Mounties were poorly organized and failed to promptly send alerts to the public until it was too late for some victims.
The three commissioners who led the inquiry were told the RCMP had a history of ignoring reports that call for change. That’s why the commissioners called for creation of the progress committee.
“There is a significant amount of work ahead for the provincial and federal governments and the RCMP,” Freeman said Thursday.
“We know that addressing all the recommendations will take time, but as a committee, we are encouraged by the high priority, the RCMP and the governments of Nova Scotia and Canada have put on this work.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.
