More than a month after a tragic shooting in Nova Scotia took the lives of 22 people, the federal government is still falling short of committing to lead a full public inquiry into what happened.
But comments from the prime minister Thursday seem to suggest that he is at least open to the idea.
Earlier this week, Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey said in a radio interview that some sort of a public review or inquiry will indeed take place, but reiterated the province’s stance that the federal government needs to take the lead. Furey said because any sort of inquiry would involve a number of federal bodies such as the RCMP, the firearm registry, and border services, only the federal government has resources to properly investigate and the jurisdiction to make recommendations.
Continuing the ongoing back and forth over who would need to take the reins on such a review, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed Thursday that a review needs to happen, and said Canada will work with Nova Scotia to ensure it happens.
“We have been in very close conversation with the provincial government on this, we recognize that Nova Scotians and indeed all Canadians have significant questions about what happened,” Trudeau said in response to a question from Saltwire during Thursday’s press conference.
“The RCMP is continuing their detailed investigation into the events but there needs to be a larger review, Canada will work with Nova Scotia in ensuring that it happens in the right way.”
Trudeau has provided similar answers in the past when asked about the possibility of a federally-led inquiry, but Thursday is the closest he’s come to committing to working with the province on a larger review.
There still seems to be no commitment on either side on leading the review, however, and details about what would be involved and when it might take place continue to be up in the air.
