A media application to unseal search warrants from the investigation into last month’s deadly shooting rampage in Nova Scotia took another step forward Monday during a teleconference in Truro provincial court.
Judge Laurel Halfpenny-MacQuarrie instructed Crown attorneys to make any redactions they believe are necessary to the seven search warrants or production orders at issue in the proceeding before the unsealing application returns to court May 19.
The vetted warrants are then expected to be provided to media lawyer David Coles by the court, followed by a table and an affidavit from an investigator outlining the reasons for the redactions.
Once Coles has all that material, he will be able to take advice from media outlets on whether they are satisfied with the contents of the warrants or wish to have a hearing on whether the redactions are too broad.
A gunman murdered 22 people in a rampage of shootings and structure fires that began in Portapique, Colchester County, on the night of April 18 and ended about 13 hours later when he was fatally shot by police at a gas station near Enfield.
CBC filed an application in late April to unseal the information investigators used to obtain search warrants. Other media, including the SaltWire Network, have joined the application.
Nova Scotia courts have been hearing only essential or urgent matters since March because of COVID-19 restrictions. CBC argued that its application was urgent because the court documents would offer valuable insight into the RCMP’s handling of the situation, and the court agreed to hear the request.
Provincial Crown attorneys are representing the police in the application, while federal prosecutors are acting on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency.
Although the gunman is deceased, prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing and the possibility remains that other people could face criminal charges in relation to the rampage. They say the warrants must be thoroughly vetted before being released to protect the integrity of the investigation.
At this point, the application is dealing with seven sealed warrants that were executed and returned to the court as of last week.
Six more warrants received
Halfpenny-MacQuarrie informed counsel that the court received six more sealed warrants Monday, and that two more were on the way.
“We also understand that there are upwards of eight more that are going to be executed this week,” the judge said.
“When all of them get here that we’ve been advised of, there should be 20 in total.”
That came as news to the lawyers. Coles said the other warrants can be considered for unsealing later, using the same process adopted for this application.
Provincial Crown attorney Mark Heerema said prosecutors are attempting to move the matter along as expeditiously as possible but the redaction process is time-consuming.
Heerema said the Crown might need as long as a month to prepare a detailed affidavit to accompany the redacted warrants.
“This is not a matter that the Crown feels can be rushed,” he said. “We’re doing our very best we can. We’re working very hard at this. But as Your Honour has alluded to, this is a very fast-moving investigation.
“We would just ask the court for sufficient time for us to prepare adequately.”
Coles said that after the redacted warrants are provided May 19, it shouldn’t take much longer than another week for the Crown to submit the affidavit.
“It will be much longer,” Heerema insisted.
The judge assured Heerema that she will give the Crown whatever time it needs to complete the job.
“I understand the applicant’s position in terms of urgency,” Halfpenny-MacQuarrie said. “But efficiency and urgency cannot trump fairness and fulsome representations by all.
“It’s only you that can tell me and the court and Mr. Coles how much time it’s going to take. And I take you at your representations. I have no difficulty with that."
The fact that new warrants are still coming in confirms the investigation is ongoing, the judge said.
“This is not something we’re going to wrap up in the next two weeks.”
