---------- Original message ----------
From: Premier <PREMIER@novascotia.ca>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:33:54 +0000
Subject: Thank you for your email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to Premier Houston. This is an automatic
confirmation your message has been received.
As we are currently experiencing higher than normal volumes of
correspondence, there may be delays in the response time for
correspondence identified as requiring a response.
If you are looking for the most up-to-date information from the
Government of Nova Scotia please visit:
http://novascotia.ca<https://
Thank you,
Premier’s Correspondence Team
---------- Original message ----------
From: James Lockyer <jlockyer@lzzdefence.ca>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:32:01 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: James Lockyer an old law school classmate of
my sister and her hubby Reid Chedore called me back and denied
receiving this email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
I will be out of the Province until July 16. I will respond to your
email as soon as I return.
If your matter is urgent, please contact Kathy Doyle at
kdoyle@lzzdefence.ca or Katie Ray at katie@lzzdefence.ca.
---------- Original message ----------
From: Marc Richard <MRichard@lsbnb.ca>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:34:35 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: James Lockyer an old law school classmate of
my sister and her hubby Reid Chedore called me back and denied
receiving this email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
I will be absent from the office until August 2, 2022
Je serai absent du bureau jusqu'au 2 août 2022
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Fraser, Sean - M.P." <Sean.Fraser@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:33:46 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: James Lockyer an old law school classmate of
my sister and her hubby Reid Chedore called me back and denied
receiving this email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your message. This is an automated reply.
Facebook: facebook.com/SeanFraserMP<http
Twitter: @SeanFraserMP<https://twitter.
Instagram: SeanFraserMP<https://www.
www.seanfrasermp.ca<file:///C:
Toll free: 1-844-641-5886
Please be advised that this account is for matters related to Central
Nova. If you live outside of Central Nova and your issue pertains to
immigration, please contact Minister@cic.gc.ca
I am currently receiving an extremely high number of emails.
If you are inquiring about Canada’s commitment to welcome vulnerable
Afghan refugees, you can find more information on Canada’s response to
the situation in Afghanistan
here<https://www.canada.ca/en/
The Government of Canada remains firm in its commitment to welcome
Afghan refugees to Canada, and will be working to increase the number
of eligible refugees to 40,000. This will be done through 2 programs:
1. A special immigration program for Afghan nationals, and their
families, who assisted the Government of Canada.
You don’t need to currently be in Afghanistan or return to Afghanistan
to be eligible or to have your application processed once you’re able
to apply.
Find out more about this special immigration
program<https://www.canada.ca/
2. A special humanitarian program focused on resettling Afghan
nationals who
· are outside of Afghanistan
· don’t have a durable solution in a third country
· are part of one of the following groups:
· women leaders
· human rights
advocates<https://www.canada.
· persecuted religious or ethnic minorities
· LGBTI individuals
· journalists and people who helped Canadian journalists
How to reach us
Contact us using our web
form<https://specialmeasures-
don’t send photos or other attachments until we ask you to.
By phone at +1-613-321-4243
· Available both inside Canada and abroad
· Monday to Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (ET)
· Saturday and Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (ET)
· We’ll accept charges for collect calls or calls with reverse charges
If you or a loved one are a Canadian citizen or PR currently in
Afghanistan, contact Global Affairs Canada’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and
Response Centre ASAP by phone (+1-613-996-8885), email
(sos@international.gc.ca<
(+1-613-686-3658).
If you would like to immigrate to Canada, please click
here<https://www.canada.ca/en/
to learn more.
To inquire about the status of an immigration case,click
here<https://www.canada.ca/en/
You can also contact your local Member of Parliament for further
assistance. If you don’t know who your Member of Parliament is, you
can find out here, https://www.ourcommons.ca/
If you have been the victim of fraud or want to report fraudulent
activity, please call the Canada Border Services Agency’s fraud
hotline at 1-888-502-9060.
For other general questions about Canadian immigration, click
here<https://www.canada.ca/en/
Thank you.
/////
Veuillez noter que je reçois actuellement un nombre extrêmement élevé
de courriels.
Si vous vous renseignez sur l'engagement du Canada à accueillir les
réfugiés afghans vulnérables, vous pouvez trouver plus d'information
sur la réponse du Canada à la situation en Afghanistan
ici<https://www.canada.ca/fr/
Le gouvernement du Canada reste ferme dans son engagement à accueillir
des réfugiés afghans au Canada, et s'efforcera d'augmenter le nombre
de réfugiés admissibles à 40 000. Cela se fera par le biais de deux
programmes :
Un programme d'immigration spécial pour les ressortissants afghans, et
leurs familles, qui ont aidé le gouvernement du Canada.
Vous n'avez pas besoin d'être actuellement en Afghanistan ou d'y
retourner pour être admissible ou pour que votre demande soit traitée,
une fois que vous serez en mesure de présenter une demande.
Pour en savoir plus sur ce programme d'immigration
spécial<https://www.canada.ca/
2. Un programme humanitaire spécial axé sur la réinstallation des
ressortissants afghans qui
· se trouvent à l'extérieur de l'Afghanistan
· n’ont pas de solution durable dans un pays tiers
· font partie de l'un des groupes suivants :
· femmes leaders,
· défenseurs des droits de la
personne<https://www.canada.
· minorités religieuses ou ethniques persécutées,
· personnes LGBTI,
· journalistes et personnes ayant aidé des journalistes canadiens.
Comment nous joindre
Veuillez communiquer avec nous en utilisant notre formulaire
Web<https://specialmeasures-
Veuillez ne pas envoyer de photos ou d'autres pièces jointes jusqu'à
ce que nous vous le demandions.
Par téléphone au +1-613-321-4243.
· Disponible au Canada et à l’étranger.
· Du lundi au vendredi, de 6 h 30 à 19 h (HE).
· Samedi et dimanche, de 6 h 30 à 15 h 30 (HE).
· Nous acceptons les frais pour les appels à frais virés ou
les appels avec inversion des frais.
Si vous ou un de vos proches êtes un citoyen canadien ou un RP
actuellement en Afghanistan, communiquez dès que possible avec le
Centre de veille et d'intervention d'urgence 24/7 d'Affaires mondiales
Canada par téléphone (+1-613-996-8885), par courriel
(sos@international.gc.ca) ou par texto (+1-613-686-3658).
Si vous souhaitez immigrer au Canada, veuillez cliquer
ici<https://www.canada.ca/fr/
pour en savoir plus.
Pour vous renseigner sur l'état d'un dossier d'immigration, cliquez
ici<https://www.canada.ca/fr/
Vous pouvez également contacter votre député local pour obtenir une
assistance supplémentaire. Si vous ne savez pas qui est votre député,
vous pouvez le découvrir ici, https://www.noscommunes.ca/
Si vous avez été victime d'une fraude ou si vous voulez signaler une
activité frauduleuse, veuillez appeler la ligne d'assistance
téléphonique de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada au
1-888-502-9060.
Pour d'autres questions générales sur l'immigration canadienne,
cliquez ici<canada.ca/immigration>.
Merci.
---------- Original message ----------
From: Newsroom <newsroom@globeandmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:34:58 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: James Lockyer an old law school classmate of
my sister and her hubby Reid Chedore called me back and denied
receiving this email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for contacting The Globe and Mail.
If your matter pertains to newspaper delivery or you require technical
support, please contact our Customer Service department at
1-800-387-5400 or send an email to customerservice@globeandmail.
If you are reporting a factual error please forward your email to
publiceditor@globeandmail.com<
Letters to the Editor can be sent to letters@globeandmail.com
This is the correct email address for requests for news coverage and
press releases.
---------- Original message ----------
From: Ministerial Correspondence Unit - Justice Canada <mcu@justice.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:33:45 +0000
Subject: Automatic Reply
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for writing to the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Due to the volume of correspondence addressed to the Minister, please
note that there may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured
that your message will be carefully reviewed.
We do not respond to correspondence that contains offensive language.
-------------------
Merci d'avoir écrit à l'honorable David Lametti, ministre de la
Justice et procureur général du Canada.
En raison du volume de correspondance adressée au ministre, veuillez
prendre note qu'il pourrait y avoir un retard dans le traitement de
votre courriel. Nous tenons à vous assurer que votre message sera lu
avec soin.
Nous ne répondons pas à la correspondance contenant un langage offensant.
https://www.facebook.com/FrankNews/photos/a.116131900032611/248955756750224
by Paul Palango
https://www.frankmagazine.ca/.../save-the-kids-or-save...
(for subscribers only)
On that terrible night in Portapique, the RCMP faced what on the surface, at least, seemed like a no-brainer of a situation: rescue four children hiding in a basement after their parents had been murdered by Gabriel Wortman, or save a convicted drug trafficker with ties to a Mexican drug cartel and his parents. Save the kids or save the con. An easy choice, you’d think.
Yet, the RCMP chose to evacuate convicted drug trafficker Peter Griffon and his parents, Alan and Joanne Griffon, an hour or so before attending to the children. The cavalry showed up at the Griffon house at 4 Faris Lane sometime around midnight.
Meanwhile, since 10:01 p.m. on April 18, four terrified children, two aged 12 and two aged 10, had been on the line with a 911 operator for about two hours, hunkered in the basement of slain school-teacher Lisa McCully’s house at 135 Orchard Beach Drive. Some half a kilometre away from the Griffon residence, as the crow flies...
...Tammy Oliver-McCreadie, the sister of Jolene Oliver, recently was able to gain access to her brother-in-law Aaron Tuck’s cell phone. To her astonishment she found a text from RCMP Constable Wayne (Skipper) Bent to Aaron. It was sent at 1:15 p.m. that Sunday. The Oliver family had been frantically calling the RCMP throughout that day because they couldn’t reach their family members. The RCMP repeatedly told them they were checking. But they hadn’t been. Not in person, anyway.
The text to Aaron Tuck read: “This is Cst. Bent with the RCMP. Looking for Aaron Tuck to call me ASAP. Important. Thank you.”
The three Tucks couldn’t answer Skipper Bent’s text for obvious reasons.
Their bodies weren’t found until near 6 p.m. that Sunday, while the Olivers kept calling the RCMP and being stalled by Bent and the new officer in charge Corp. Gerard Rose-Berthiaume.
“I have really no idea why in the %#@& would they text and not walk down the road and check them,” Oliver-McCurdie wrote in a message to Frank.
“The phones were in the house. Aaron’s was plugged in charging.”
That Saturday night and well into the day on Sunday, the RCMP seemed obsessed with keeping regular members away from nine crime scenes on the lower half of Portapique Beach Road, even after the threat had been neutralized.
Nobody bothered to do a wellness check on the Tucks, for one small example, until seven hours after Gabriel Wortman’s rampage was finally brought to an end in Enfield..
https://www.facebook.com/FrankNews/photos/a.116131900032611/302030761442723
The first massacre took place on Saturday night April 18, and was contained in the community of Portapique Beach. It appears that no witness to any of the murders was left alive. Portapique resident Andrew MacDonald and his wife, Katie, were shot at by Wortman and escaped. MacDonald told the first arriving officer, Constable Stuart Beselt, that Wortman was dressed as a police officer and was driving a fully marked RCMP vehicle. It is understood that Beselt radioed that information to his base. The Mounties say they had five units in place by 10:35 p.m. or so, but they held their positions. Officers who wanted to go down the road were ordered not to by a corporal who threatened them with the loss of their jobs if they did not obey her. Thirteen people were killed that night: John Zahl and Joanne Thomas, Frank and Dawn Gulenchyn, Greg and Jamie Blair, Lisa McCully, Corrie Ellison, Aaron Tuck, Jolene Oliver, Emily Tuck and Peter and Joy Bond.
Could any of them been saved? Since the Columbine massacre in Colorado in 1999, police forces just about everywhere have recognized that the first officers on the scene of an active shooter must attack the shooter and not wait for specialized tactical officers to arrive on scene. The first responsibility of any law enforcement officer in a critical situation is preservation of life. Why did the RCMP not pursue Wortman when they were told where he was by MacDonald?
The second massacre occurred on the morning of April 19, and was spread out over a wide swath of Northern and Central Nova Scotia. A key thing to note is that the RCMP sent its officers home from Portapique around 6:30 a.m. after it was assumed that Wortman had committed suicide. Who made that assumption?
When daylight arrived, the bodies of Corrie Ellison and Lisa McCully were still lying by the road on Orchard Beach Drive. At least five bodies — the three Tucks and the two Bonds — wouldn’t be found until later that day. The police had no idea where Wortman was. Eventually, the police said that he likely spent the night behind a welding shop of Ventura Drive in Debert, but we still don’t really know that. It’s another assumption.
That morning, Wortman travelled 50 kilometres to Hunter Road in Wentworth, where he killed corrections officers Sean McLeod and Alanna Jenkins before setting their house on fire. He killed Good Samaritan neighbour, Tom Bagley, who came to check out what was going on. He then drove back toward Portapique and killed Lillian Hyslop on Highway 4. He eluded the RCMP near Glenholme, tried to gain entry into another residence, and then killed VON nurses Kristin Beaton and Heather O’Brien on Plains Road in Debert.
Wortman then headed south, where he shot and wounded Constable Chad Morrison and killed Constable Heidi Stevenson at Shubenacadie. At that scene he coldly executed Joey Webber, another Good Samaritan. He set his fake police car on fire with Webber in the back seat, and escaped in Webber’s Ford Escape. He stopped about a kilometre away at fellow denturist Gina Goulet’s house, killed her and stole her vehicle.
In all Wortman drove an estimated 200 kilometres. The RCMP did not set up a roadblock in front of him. Why?
One year after Portapique: On shifting timelines, evidence destruction, incompetence and unanswered questions, by Paul Palango
https://www.frankmagazine.ca/.../one-year-after-portapique
(for subscribers only)
https://www.facebook.com/FrankNews/photos/a.116131900032611/312155487096917
The Mounties hand out the awards every year in mid-April.
Fortuitous timing indeed for last year's winner, Glen Byrne!
https://www.facebook.com/FrankNews/photos/a.116131900032611/316306080015191
He is a former journalist who had spent almost 30 years working as a radio and television reporter in New Brunswick, the last 16 of them with the CTV network. In April 2005, Vass went to work for the Mounties in their strategic communications department. By 2020, he was a senior crisis and communications strategist in the force, “using traditional and social media to meet business goals or in other words using communications to solve and prevent crime,” as he so awkwardly states in his own LinkedIn profile.
Vass brought added value to the RCMP mainly because he had a pipeline back to his former comrades in the CTV newsroom, where he could deftly wield influence from behind the scenes and keep the CTV newsroom tame when it came to stories potentially harmful to the RCMP’s reputation.
There was another part of Vass’s back story that shed light on why the RCMP had put so much of its faith in Twitter and Facebook and why it continued to defend that mystifying decision. Leather memorably called the platform “a superior way to communicate this ongoing threat” and said he was “satisfied with the messaging.”
Vass was the key person inside the RCMP who was instrumental in convincing the force to use social media in a crisis and who was working behind the scenes to manage the force’s response to the growing criticism of the practise...
HOW THE MOUNTIES GOT ADDICTED TO TWITTER, by Paul Palango
https://www.frankmagazine.ca/.../how-the-mounties-got...
(for subscribers only)
https://www.facebook.com/FrankNews/photos/a.116131900032611/319290883050044
Sez host Jordan Bonaparte:
"I've gotta get me one of those. I'll go get my face punched in downtown with that hat on".
"I'd welcome it," declares the noted contrarian with an impish grin.
Palango's been a regular guest on Nighttime for months, where he talks at length about his ongoing investigation into last year's mass shootings.
He's back on the show tomorrow night, May 2, 10:15 N.S. time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkD0oe-aEE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngUK7665Fik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xojo_wUfW4o
MCC Day 48 – Lisa Banfield Speaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzms5ivv5DE
MCC- DAY 50 - LISA BANFIELD... AND HANDLERS
15 Comments
Partner of N.S. mass shooter tells inquiry why she didn't report illegal guns
Lawyers of victims’ families concerned about lack of ability to ask questions
The partner of the gunman who killed 22 people in the Nova Scotia mass shooting says she knew he didn't have a gun licence, but was scared he would kill her if she ever reported him to police.
Lisa Banfield testified Friday before the Mass Casualty Commission leading a public inquiry into the rampage on April 18 and 19, 2020, when her common-law spouse, Gabriel Wortman, killed neighbours and strangers as he drove a mock RCMP cruiser.
Banfield, who was only questioned by commission counsel, was composed for the first few hours of the day as she testified with two of her sisters by her side.
She became emotional when talking about the various firearms the gunman owned. Banfield said she never considered reporting her common-law spouse to the police, even though she knew he didn't have a licence.
"If we had a fight, he put the gun to my head to scare me and said he could blow off my head," Banfield said through tears.
"So I was scared. I'm not going to say anything."
Banfield said she was aware other men also knew Wortman had these guns and were afraid to say anything, "so what am I gonna do?"
Wanted to protect police from gunman
She was also asked about what happened when two Halifax Regional Police officers arrived at the Dartmouth home she shared with the gunman in June 2010, investigating reports that he had threatened to kill his parents.
At the time, Banfield told officers there were no guns in the house. She testified Friday that wasn't true, but she said she lied to protect the officers.
"[Wortman] had the handgun by the nightstand and said if any police come, 'I'm shooting,'" Banfield said.
Soon after this, Banfield said RCMP Const. Greg Wiley came by the Portapique cottage to see whether Wortman had any firearms.
Wiley in house for 10 minutes: Banfield
The inquiry has heard that Wiley visited the gunman's cottage more than a dozen times in the years before the mass shooting, since the officer went to him for tips on local crime.
During that 2010 visit, Banfield said Wiley asked Wortman if he had any guns. The gunman showed the Mountie an old musket and one decorative gun above a fireplace that was filled with wax.
Wiley was only in the cottage for about 10 minutes and didn't seem to take an official statement from the gunman, nor did he search the home, said Banfield.
She couldn't remember if Wiley visited the gunman's warehouse or if it had been built by then.
The Portapique, N.S. log cottage belonging to the Nova Scotia mass shooter. The building, and nearby warehouse, were burned to the ground during the April 2020 rampage. (Mass Casualty Commission)
The gunman began his rampage on April 18, 2020, after attacking Banfield during a celebration of their 19th anniversary. The gunman's long history of violence, emotional abuse and other controlling behaviour toward Banfield was outlined in a foundational document released earlier this week.
Although Banfield's lawyer James Lockyer said she was apprehensive about testifying, due to revisiting of the trauma from her past, she chose to give her evidence in person rather than via video.
"She's showing, you know, a lot of courage there in my view, and she's going to do her best," Lockyer said Thursday.
As of Friday, Banfield has completed four interviews with police since the massacre, a video walk-through of her experience on April 18 and 19 in Portapique, N.S., and five recent interviews with the commission itself.
Soon after the video walk-through in October 2020, the RCMP charged Banfield with supplying ammunition to the gunman and she stopped cooperating with police. Banfield also, under her lawyer's advice, initially refused to speak at the inquiry. That stance changed when her charge was referred to restorative justice in March.
According to a commission release, the decision to not allow questions from other participant lawyers is based on the volume of information Banfield has already provided, and her position as a "survivor of the perpetrator's violence."
Gillian Hnatiw, commission counsel, said earlier this week that while there may be "follow-up questions" put to Banfield on Friday about the shootings, their team will not be asking her to retell that story.
Michael Scott of Patterson Law, the firm representing the families of most victims, said they were "shocked" to hear that.
Scott said their clients already had significant concerns with the commission blocking direct cross-examination. He is not planning to submit any written questions for the commission to consider.
Scott said there is "absolutely no point" in having Banfield give sworn testimony in person under the conditions the commission has laid out.
Michael Scott is a lawyer with Patterson Law, whose firm represents more than a dozen families of Portapique victims. (CBC)
"We can be forgiven for concluding that Ms. Banfield has been called forward for no other reason than ... it can be said that she was called," Scott said Thursday.
He added that the commission's trauma-informed mandate would have been better served by having Banfield testify once in person, and not sit through multiple lengthy interviews behind closed doors.
If this process had been done the "proper way" and questions allowed from various lawyers, Scott said Banfield would have been allowed the opportunity to speak her piece. But as it stands, Scott said there will still be major questions around Banfield after she testifies Friday, and "speculation about what actually happened."
When asked what else the commission is hoping to learn from Banfield, one of their lawyers Emily Hill told reporters Thursday that there are multiple issues, including the history of the gunman's abuse in their relationship. Hill also said they do have questions for her as a witness to how the events of April 18 unfolded.
Banfield has told police how the gunman assaulted her before throwing her into the mock RCMP car in his Portapique garage. She said she escaped through an opening in the car's divider, and hid in the woods overnight.
Lockyer said he's glad that the commission will not allow questions from participant lawyers which may be driven by a "conspiracy theory" that Banfield actually didn't spend the night outside in the woods.
James Lockyer is a lawyer for Lisa Banfield, the partner of the mass shooter who killed 22 people in April 2020 across Nova Scotia. (CBC)
This type of question "takes us to south of the border," Lockyer said Thursday.
"You know, these shootings happen south of the border and the next thing we hear from the Alex Joneses of this world is that the shooting never actually happened, it's completely phony and was made up," Lockyer said.
"We don't need that kind of nonsense in Canada or in Nova Scotia."
Lockyer said Banfield is aware victims' families will be in the room Friday, and that's one of the reasons she wants to come in person. Banfield never knew the massacre was coming, Lockyer said, and every day thinks about what would have happened if she hadn't fled on April 18.
"She's going to think about that every day for the rest of her life. That's a difficult thing to carry, a very heavy burden to carry," Lockyer said.
"She just hopes that … she's going to be to tell them, as best she can, that she just wishes it never happened."
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O'Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Although Patterson Law filed a motion asking for detailed reasons on the commission's approach, the commission released a decision dismissing this motion Thursday.
The commissioners said they have explained fully why Banfield is only being questioned by their own counsel, who are tasked to find answers in the public interest, and "not in the adversarial, trial-like model" on which the motion was based.
The commission also dismissed Patterson's request to give an oral submission about Banfield's testimony Friday.
This is not the first time the issue of lack of direct questioning has been raised by victims' families and their lawyers. In May, the commissioners decided that only their lawyers would question RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Rehill and Sgt. Andy O'Brien in pre-taped interviews. Rehill was in charge of the police response during the first hours after 911 calls began to come in. O'Brien helped communicate with officers at the crime scene early in the crisis.
This drew a temporary boycott of the inquiry by many victims' families, who did not show up during the Mounties' testimonies and instructed their lawyers to do the same.
With files from Catharine Tunney
Spouse of N.S. mass shooter shows how deadly rampage began in video re-enactment
Lisa Banfield told police what she could remember about Portapique events months later
Warning: This story contains details of violence and domestic abuse that are disturbing.
New videos show the long-time partner of the Nova Scotia mass shooter re-enacting what she saw and experienced the night the rampage began two years ago.
The Mass Casualty Commission released new documents and images Wednesday as part of its inquiry into what happened on April 18 and 19, 2020, when Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people while driving a mock RCMP car.
Among these are video re-enactments from October 2020, when Lisa Banfield took an RCMP investigator through what she remembers happened in Portapique.
Banfield said the night began with the couple celebrating their 19th anniversary and having drinks at the gunman's large garage next to his cottage. They were video chatting with friends in the United States and talking about how they planned to hold a commitment ceremony the next year. That's when their friend Angel Patterson said, "Don't do it." That upset Banfield and she left the garage.
Halfway up the path to the cottage, Banfield said she decided to turn around and apologize to Wortman, but when she arrived he was already "irate." She told the commission she couldn't calm him down, and went back to the cottage and into bed.
What seemed like minutes later, Banfield said the gunman pulled the covers off the bed and assaulted her, kicking her into the bedpost. He then pulled her through the cottage which she noticed was already doused in gasoline, and set the building on fire once they got outside.
She then told police about the gunman leading her through the woods to the garage.
Once at the garage, the gunman started dousing the vehicles outside with gas. He dragged Banfield into the garage, and handcuffed her left hand.
But when he demanded her right hand, Banfield said she held it back.
When she was in the back seat of the mock RCMP cruiser behind the plexiglass partition, Banfield said the gunman loaded several firearms into the front of the vehicle.
He then went up to the loft apartment in the garage, and she tried to kick out the back seat windows with no success.
She managed to slip the handcuff off her left hand and was able to slide open a window in the divider and dive into the front seat. She ran from the garage, not taking any of the guns in the cruiser — something she told police she has replayed over in her head.
After running from the garage, Banfield tried to hide in one of his trucks but was worried he would set it on fire, and fled into the woods.
Banfield told police how she spent the next few hours alone, hearing gunshots and terrified the gunman would find her.
While Banfield was in hiding, the gunman killed 13 people within the small community.
She remained hidden inside a fallen tree overnight as temperatures dipped close to zero degrees, inquiry documents said.
Banfield said she thought if she could survive until dawn, she could then venture out for help.
After first light, she walked to a neighbour who called police just before 6:30 a.m. on April 19. Members of the RCMP's emergency response team picked her up in an armoured vehicle a few minutes later.
Medical records released through the inquiry show Banfield spent five nights in hospital after suffering a fractured rib and vertebrae, as well as extensive bruising and scrapes from the night of April 18.
Inquiry learns details of abuse, control suffered by spouse of N.S. mass shooter
Lisa Banfield says she was convinced the gunman would kill her family if she left him
Inquiry hears from spouse of N.S. mass shooter about years of abuse, control
Warning: details are disturbing.
The first time Lisa Banfield says she was physically abused by her partner was a terrifying assault where she ran into the woods in the early 2000s.
"He was running after me and I was screaming my head off, and then he caught me and then he … you know, I had blood all over me and he was dragging me back," Banfield recalled to police.
It's a scene she said played out again years later, the night her common-law spouse Gabriel Wortman began a shooting rampage in Portapique, N.S., that would leave 22 Nova Scotians dead.
The gunman's violence, emotional abuse and other controlling behaviour toward Banfield throughout their 19-year relationship are outlined in a new foundational document released Wednesday by the Mass Casualty Commission. The document is based on interviews with Banfield, her family and other witnesses.
The commission is leading the inquiry into the mass shootings on April 18 and 19, 2020, examining the tragedy and the factors that led up to it, including the violence in Wortman's family and his history of harassment and attacks on others.
Banfield, who is set to testify before the inquiry for the first time Friday, gave four police interviews following the massacre and five interviews with the commission itself in recent months.
Physical abuse began after party
The documents show that Banfield met Wortman in May 2001 at the now-defunct Halifax pub, the Thirsty Duck.
On their first date, he showed up with a dozen long-stemmed roses. Banfield felt that was "too showy," and said she wasn't impressed. But later in the evening, she was impressed by the gunman's calm demeanour when his car was rear-ended.
Things moved quickly after that. Three months later, Banfield had moved in with the gunman.
Initially, she described Wortman as "sweet and caring." That was before the first time she was physically abused, following a party at a cottage in Sutherland Lake, about a half-hour drive north of Portapique.
Although witnesses differed on when the incident happened — Banfield said it was in 2001, others suggested it was as late as 2007 — the commission said it was likely after October 2002 when the gunman bought his Portapique cottage.
The burned out remains of Gabriel Wortman's home on Portapique Beach Road, N.S., taken May 13, 2020. (Steve Lawrence/CBC)
Banfield said Renée Karsten, a denturist who worked with Wortman at his Dartmouth clinic, invited the couple up for the night. But when Banfield wanted to leave and offered to take the gunman's Jeep home so he could stay, this "set him off."
As she left, the gunman jumped in the car and began hitting her in the head as she continued trying to drive. Banfield said she was crying so hard she couldn't see, so she stopped and fled into the woods.
The gunman soon caught Banfield and dragged her back to the car, but she ran away again when a group of people from the party arrived.
Karsten told police she saw Wortman dragging Banfield by the hair in the driveway, so she "lost it" and tried to intervene.
"His face and just the look in his eyes … it scared the hell out of me," Karsten told police.
Police involved, no charges laid
Karsten brought Banfield back to the cottage, and police came and drove the gunman back to his Portapique home. Banfield said that was the only time police were involved, and nothing came of the incident.
The commission said in the document it's unclear exactly why police were called and what they knew about the situation. While police records from this time "may have been purged" by now, the commission continues to investigate.
When Banfield eventually returned to the Portapique cottage that night, she saw the gunman pulling the tires off her car and throwing them over a bank. He told her to come inside, but she went to a neighbour's and waited for her niece to pick her up.
The niece, Stephanie Goulding, said Banfield was bloody and scraped up, with torn clothing. Goulding wanted to stop into the Truro police station to report the assault, but Banfield "begged" her not to, so instead a sister took photos of her injuries.
Banfield moved back into her sister Maureen Banfield's home after this, but Wortman soon began visiting and apologizing, saying he'd been drinking and he would never hurt her again — and they got back together.
This pattern would continue through the years, both Banfield and two of her sisters told police. The few times her family knew of the abuse and urged her to report it or leave the relationship, Banfield didn't want to take that step.
The gunman would often kick and punch the parts of her body that could be covered by clothing, Banfield said, like arms and legs. If he left marks on her neck while choking her, Banfield said she would use makeup to cover them.
On at least two occasions, Banfield said he put a gun to her head.
"He would say afterwards, 'If I didn't love you, I wouldn't do this because that's how much I care about you,'" she told the commission.
One sister, Janice Banfield, called the gunman a "sociopath" and said she thought "we're gonna have to bury our sister one day."
But Banfield said she felt she had nowhere to go, because the gunman frequently threatened to kill her or her family if she ever left him.
"He would be like, 'I know where your family lives,' and look at me a certain way," she said.
Violence more prevalent than first reported
While Banfield originally told RCMP officers there had been around 10 incidents of physical abuse over the years, she has since told the commission there were actually far more.
"I just don't trust very well, and I was scared to say anything," she told the commission this May.
She originally told police years would go by between attacks, and the last time had been three years before the mass shooting. Upon reflection, Banfield told the commission that was part of her coping mechanism.
Banfield would write a journal entry about an incident but never revisit it, so she believed an assault hadn't happened in years even though it was happening "all along."
"I would just have to block it out because … I needed to deal with whatever is going on in that moment, so I couldn't think about what's gone on," Banfield said.
Only one neighbour reported abuse
There were at least two instances of abuse witnessed by other people in Portapique.
One day, the gunman's uncle Glynn Wortman and another neighbour saw him choking Banfield on the front lawn of their cottage. The uncle yelled, "You're just like your father, get off of her," Banfield recalled.
Earlier this week, the inquiry heard accounts from several of the gunman's uncles describing incidents of his father, Paul Wortman, abusing his wife, Evelyn.
One Portapique neighbour, Brenda Forbes, heard about the incident Glynn Wortman saw and reported it to the RCMP in 2013. Nothing came of her complaint, and Forbes said no one else in the community believed her or wanted to get involved.
Banfield said she never told her family doctor about the abuse, and was careful to schedule visits only when she had no visible injuries.
Psychologist urged her to leave
But at one point, Banfield said things were "so bad" she saw a psychologist in Bedford who told her she was in an abusive relationship. This professional provided support and encouraged her to leave, but the gunman found out about it and made her stop.
The gunman also threatened to confront the doctor, Banfield said, and she felt "trapped."
Although Banfield said she was always "on eggshells" around the gunman, never knowing what would set him off, she consistently forgave his behaviour and tried to show him he was loved because "everybody always left him."
In a statement to the commission, Banfield wrote she felt bad for the gunman when he told her about how his father abused him as a child, especially because she had such a large and loving family.
"I thought I could help him if I just loved him unconditionally," Banfield said.
Controlling, isolating behaviour
The range of abuse the gunman inflicted on Banfield fits into the definitions of intimate-partner violence and coercive control, which are laid out in an inquiry report from Dr. Katreena Scott on interventions to address abuse.
Scott writes that intimate-partner violence includes a range of behaviours besides physical violence, like unwanted sexual activity, threats, humiliation, and economic abuse which deprives a victim of the ability to provide for their own needs.
Coercive control is a set of behaviours that disempower someone in a relationship, Scott said, like removing their liberties, threats to their family, and limiting access to loved ones or transportation.
"Very early on there were so many signs of his controlling or bullying behaviour, but somehow, I was able to block it out and justify to myself how badly he treated me," Banfield wrote in a statement to the commission.
"Gabriel was jealous, controlling, possessive, extremely degrading, and piggish; it was 'his way or the highway.'"
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O'Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Banfield said within the first couple of years, the gunman was able to convince her to quit her bank job at RBC so she could come work for his denturist business, which would make it easier for them to take time off and travel together.
"I realize now that he just wanted to control my entire life," Banfield wrote to the commission.
He urged her to sell the car she'd had throughout her previous marriage, and he eventually bought her a Mercedes under his name.
Banfield was in the gunman's will by 2011, but her sister Maureen Banfield was worried she'd be left with nothing if they broke up because she had no other income or investments of her own.
By 2020, Banfield said she believed she was making around $25 an hour, but the clinic didn't have a regular payroll system. Instead, the gunman would write her cheques from a business account or give her cash, sometimes deducting a percentage from her cheques "for retirement," she said.
"He dealt with all the money things, so I trusted whatever," Banfield told the commission.
'He wanted me to know that without him, I had nothing'
Besides her work at his clinics, Banfield said she would wait on the gunman "hand and foot" by making all the meals and handling the cleaning and organizing of the household. She told one of her sisters it was the way she was raised and she wanted to take on these tasks.
Banfield said in her written statement the gunman controlled everything in her life, so when she didn't obey, he could take things away to "punish her," including her car keys, phone and salary.
"He wanted me to know that without him, I had nothing. I believed that," she wrote. "Made me feel so stupid and incapable of doing things on my own even though I did everything for him."
The gunman also often groped Banfield in front of her family because he thought "it was funny," she said, and their sexual relationship was always defined by his wants and needs, not hers.
Sex between them did not involve intimacy or tenderness, Banfield wrote to the commission, and said the gunman was "addicted to pornography."
Despite his many affairs, including with Portapique neighbours or his own patients, Banfield said she forgave him every time — and "I am so ashamed of that."
Unhappy with Banfield socializing
While Banfield said the gunman would often become mad at her for wanting to see her siblings or other family, Banfield said he also didn't like her becoming too friendly with people in Portapique.
If he saw her having fun at neighbourhood parties, Banfield said the gunman would put her down in front of others for "acting like an idiot" and drag her away by the arm. If she refused, he would become violent and slap her or pull her hair.
At work, Banfield said he also belittled her and screamed at her in front of patients. When out for dinner one night, the gunman threw a glass of water in her face and left her alone in the restaurant.
The gunman's controlling behaviour and jealousy appeared to weigh on Banfield's mind. One time, Banfield saw another denturist while out drinking with her sister, and was terrified they might tell the gunman because she wasn't supposed to be out.
When her mother died, her high school boyfriend attended the funeral, but Banfield ushered him out, saying the gunman disliked him and would be upset he was there.
The violence and control from the gunman lasted until April 18, 2020, when he attacked Banfield on the night of their 19th anniversary. He threw her in his mock RCMP cruiser, but she said she escaped through an opening in the car's partition and hid in the woods overnight.
Lisa Banfield re-enactment videos raise questions about why she was charged
Women’s Shelters Canada worries Banfield's experience with police will deter other women from reporting abuse
The release of new videos showing the longtime partner of the Nova Scotia mass shooter re-enacting what she saw and experienced the night of the rampage is raising questions about why police charged her in the weeks following the shootings.
The Mass Casualty Commission released footage Wednesday of Lisa Banfield walking an RCMP investigator through what she remembered happening in Portapique, N.S., on April 18 and 19, 2020, including how her partner beat her and tried to handcuff her.
The re-enactment was filmed in late October 2020, six months after Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people while driving a mock RCMP car.
A few weeks after filming the re-enactment, Banfield was charged with supplying ammunition to the gunman.
The Crown eventually determined there was no public interest in sending the case to trial and instead referred the matter to restorative justice. Upon completion, the criminal charge will be dropped.
"I have concerns about the timeline and concerns about the fact she was charged in the first place," Banfield's defence lawyer, James Lockyer, said Thursday.
Erin Breen, a lawyer representing three sexual assault and justice groups — Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, Wellness Within, and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund — said she has concerns with the sequence of events.
"It's always been a very troubling issue from our perspective. My clients were quite outraged when they learned that Ms. Banfield was being charged," she said.
"Systemically it's a problem when a survivor comes forward and shares information about their survival behaviour and ends up getting charged in a criminal investigation."
Banfield said she pleaded with gunman
In the videos released Wednesday, Banfield explains how the couple had been marking their 19th anniversary when they began fighting.
After she turned in for the night, Banfield said the gunman pulled the covers off the bed and assaulted her, kicking her into the bedpost. He then pulled her through the cottage, which she noticed was already doused in gasoline, and set the building on fire once they got outside, she told the investigator.
Banfield said the gunman dragged her into the garage and tried to put her in handcuffs.
"Looking at his eyes, there was nothing there," she said. "It was just so cold."
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O'Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Banfield was able to escape — shoeless — and hide for the next few hours, terrified he would find her as she heard gunshots.
Medical records released through the inquiry show Banfield spent five nights in hospital after suffering a fractured rib and vertebrae, as well as extensive bruising and scrapes from the night of April 18.
Other documents made public Thursday as part of the commission covered how the gunman used violence, emotional abuse and other controlling behaviour toward Banfield for nearly two decades.
Push for more police training
Megan Stephens, lawyer for Women's Shelters Canada, said she worries Banfield's experience will discourage other women from going to police.
"I'm concerned about the message that people get because sometimes violence is such that people do need to call the police; there is no one else who could step in to protect them," she said.
"But in this case, it feels like there were multiple failures of that, and the message that I think unfortunately women will get if they connect these dots, if they themselves are living in abusive relationships, is I don't know if that's the right option for me."
WATCH | Inquiry hears from spouse of N.S. mass shooter about years of abuse, control
Inquiry hears from spouse of N.S. mass shooter about years of abuse, control
Breen said she hopes the commission's work will at least spark a conversation about how police and the justice system should approach intimate partner abuse.
"You see it quite commonly in situations where women are defending themselves in a violent conformation, end up getting charged with assault themselves," she said.
"The current policy of a pro-arrest, pro-charge, pro-prosecution removes any choice or power from the person who has survived the violence."
Stephens said she also hopes police get more training about how to recognize and better respond to abuse, including controlling behaviour.
Lisa Banfield's running shoes, lost while fleeing Gabriel Wortman, are shown as commission counsel Gillian Hnatiw presents a foundational document about the violent behaviour that Wortman directed toward Banfield, his common-law spouse, at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19, 2020, in Halifax on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Wortman, dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a replica police cruiser, murdered 22 people. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
"Intimate partner violence doesn't just involve discrete acts of physical violence, there are other ways in which controlling, coercive behaviour can really lead people to basically be stuck in situations and to have no control," she said.
"Unfortunately, there is not enough training that goes into preparing officers who are on the front line. All the more so in some of these rural communities where you don't have specialists, you have generalists."
Banfield felt 'betrayed' by re-enactment filming
In an interview Banfield gave to a commission lawyer in April of this year, she said she felt ambushed by the re-enactment filming.
She said she wanted to meet RCMP Sgt. Greg Vardy at the cottage in Portapique so he could see where her sneakers had been left and where she had hid overnight. It was the first time she had returned to the cottage since the night of the rampage.
"I heard that people were thinking I'm lying about what happened, it's like, I thought if I go up there for the first time, I want somebody to see that, you know, to find my shoes, to find this tree, to find the things that I'm telling you that happened," she said.
But Banfield said when she went to meet the Mountie, he had brought along a small audio and video crew.
"It was just feeling like I was betrayed," she said.
Her sister, Maureen, later jumps in on the interview. She said Banfield wasn't in the right mental shape to do the re-enactment.
"Here's the thing that I feel is probably the deepest betrayal in terms of the manipulation of her actually being investigated without our knowledge," Maureen Banfield said.
"It was horrific and I think it was very damning to her mentally, and that's for me, I think, the most egregious thing that took place in terms of her well-being and putting her first."
Banfield not under investigation during filming
A spokesperson for the RCMP said Banfield was not under investigation at the time of the re-enactment filming.
"The victim/witness video re-enactment was related to a period of time where Ms. Banfield was a victim of multiple crimes. Given that she was not under investigation, it would not have been appropriate to provide her with rights that are given to a person who is being investigated for an offence or who is under arrest," said Cpl. Chris Marshall.
"Lisa Banfield was provided her reason for arrest, rights to counsel and police warning, as required by the law, during the investigation in which she is charged with ammunition-related offences."
With files from Haley Ryan
3 accused of giving N.S. gunman ammunition named in lawsuit filed by families
Lisa Banfield, James Banfield, Brian Brewster listed as defendants alongside shooter's estate
Three people accused of giving ammunition to the man responsible for killing 22 people in Nova Scotia have now been added as defendants to the proposed class-action lawsuit launched by families of the victims.
On April 18 and 19, denturist Gabriel Wortman killed neighbours, acquaintances and strangers, and burned several homes, including his cottage, before being shot and killed by police in Enfield, N.S. During most of the attacks, he was driving a decommissioned cruiser that he'd adapted to look like a real RCMP vehicle.
The gunman's common-law spouse, Lisa Banfield, 52, her brother James Blair Banfield, 54, of Beaver Bank, N.S., and her brother-in-law Brian Brewster, 60, of Lucasville, N.S., have been charged with unlawfully providing the shooter with .223-calibre Remington cartridges and .40-calibre Smith & Wesson cartridges in the month leading up to the massacre, which began in Portapique, N.S.
Lisa Banfield is facing two counts and her relatives are each facing one count. They're all expected to enter pleas at their next court date in Dartmouth provincial court on March 9.
Now, in addition to the criminal charges, the three are named in the lawsuit that argues they and the gunman's estate —which has been valued at $2.1 million — are liable to the families of the people who lost their lives, the estates and people who suffered damage to property and people who were injured due to Wortman's actions.
There is a separate lawsuit families have filed against the RCMP and the province.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O'Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
The statement of claim filed against the estate alleges that in addition to killing 22 people, Wortman injured six people, killed five pets and burned or damaged three vehicles and four homes.
Lisa Banfield, James Banfield and Brian Brewster's names were added to the lawsuit on Feb. 5. The other defendants include the public trustee, which is representing Wortman's estate, and three companies Wortman owned and controlled: Berkshire Broman Corp., Atlantic Denture Clinic Inc., and Northumberland Investments Inc.
"Ultimately, our job is to protect the interests of the families of those lost in the April tragedies and of course the victims, the survivors of that tragedy as well," said lawyer Sandra McCulloch, who represents the plaintiffs. "That requires us pursuing this avenue of potential recourse and accountability and answers for our families."
In order to proceed as a class action, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court must certify the lawsuit. That has not yet happened. None of the named defendants have filed statements in response to the allegations made by the plaintiffs.
The burned remains of Gabriel Wortman’s cottage in Portapique, N.S. Wortman disguised himself as a Mountie and over the course of 13 hours the night of April 18, 2020, and the following morning travelled nearly 200 kilometres in and around Portapique, killing 22 people. (Steve Lawrence/CBC)
When the RCMP announced the criminal charges in December, the force said the trio were not aware of Wortman's plans.
The criminal case "coupled with the other information and evidence that we've been gathering on our end adds up to there being support for some degree of culpability on the part of each of those individuals," said McCulloch.
Lawsuit alleges spouse acquired gasoline
The updated statement of claim alleges that Lisa Banfield "was aware of and facilitated Wortman's preparations, including but not limited to, his accumulation of firearms, ammunition, other weapons, gasoline, police paraphernalia, and the outfitting of a replica RCMP vehicle."
It alleges Banfield "directly acquired some of the accelerants and ammunition used by Wortman in the crime spree" and that James Banfield and Brian Brewster also "directly acquired" ammunition.
The proposed lawsuit claims all three were "negligent in [the] acquisition of these items" and that they "knew or ought to have known that Wortman had tortious intentions."
McCulloch declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the additional evidence gathered to support the allegations.
The investigative firm Martin and Associates has been working with Patterson Law since the law firm was retained by the families. Last fall it set up a website to collect tips and information related to the mass shootings.
Though police have said Lisa Banfield was the first victim of violence in Portapique on April 18, she was always excluded as a plaintiff from the families' lawsuit.
"From our perspective, there has always been a possibility of a conflict of interest between [Banfield's] interest and those of our clients. And you're seeing that now manifest itself in our amendments," said McCulloch.
Spouse suing estate separately
In a separate civil case, however, Banfield is also suing her former partner's estate, which includes six properties, three corporations and $705,000 in cash seized from the wreckage of the couple's cottage in Portapique.
In her statement of claim, which was filed with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court last summer, Banfield said she was the victim of assault and battery, and suffered physical, emotional and psychological injuries and trauma.
Search warrant documents show several people told investigators Banfield, who lived with Wortman above the denture clinic in Dartmouth where they both worked, was abused during their 19-year relationship.
Lawyers representing Banfield are also opposing the application by CBC and other media organizations to lift some redactions in the search warrants related to the mass shooting investigation.
Banfield opposed to lifting redactions
In documents filed with the court on Feb. 5, James Lockyer and Jessica Zita, the Toronto lawyers who are representing Banfield, argue that 13 redacted paragraphs should remain blacked out because they explain the Crown's case against their client and "invades Lisa solicitor-client privilege."
One paragraph is a summary of a statement Banfield's friend and lawyer Kevin van Bargen gave to police.
"His information deals with business and financial affairs, unrelated and peripheral to the events. This invasion of Lisa's solicitor-client privilege is unwarranted, would not be permitted at her trial, and should not be provided to the media," the lawyers stated in the filings.
Their filings said Lisa Banfield gave four statements to police, on April 19, April 20, April 28 and July 28. They said the other sections that should remain redacted pertain to her statements and those made by her co-accused and other family members who spoke to police between April and July.
Meanwhile, work on a public inquiry into the mass killings is underway. Last month the commission announced the staff who will lead the teams involved in the joint federal-provincial inquiry.
Cross-examination of N.S. killer's spouse could promote conspiracy theories: lawyer
There are good reasons why the spouse of the man responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history should not face cross-examination when she testifies Friday before a public inquiry, her lawyer says.
James Lockyer said Thursday his client, Lisa Banfield, should not be retraumatized by lawyers who seem determined to explore conspiracy theories about what happened April 18-19, 2020, when Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people during a 13-hour rampage across Nova Scotia.
The Toronto lawyer said some lawyers who represent victims' families appear keen to ask Banfield how she managed to escape from her deranged partner and survive a bitterly cold night in the woods around Portapique, N.S., on the first night of the rampage.
"Some of the lawyers, one or two of them, have been pretty hyperbolic in their statements," Lockyer said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"They talk of wanting to cross-examine her about certain aspects of her trauma that night without ever explaining their goals. And their goals, when you think about it, can only be conspiracy-theorist goals."
Lockyer said the purpose of raising questions about Banfield's whereabouts would be to challenge her credibility and suggest that she may have spent the night elsewhere, which he says is absurd.
"These mass casualty events, particularly (those) we've seen south of the border, do give rise to conspiracy theorists," Lockyer said. "We don't need that in Canada. We don't need that in Nova Scotia. I think the commission is to be congratulated that they're not willing to entertain it."
Lawyer Michael Scott, whose firm represents 14 of the victims' families, challenged Lockyer's conspiracy comments, arguing that the inquiry's decision to limit questioning will leave lingering doubts about Banfield's testimony.
"There are very good questions to be asked about how she survived overnight," Scott said Thursday. "And by arranging a process where nobody is allowed to ask reasonable questions, then this promotes conspiracy theories."
The three commissioners overseeing the federal-provincial inquiry recently decided Banfield will not face cross-examination from lawyers who represent relatives of the victims, mainly because she could be traumatized by having to relive the violence she endured.
The inquiry has heard evidence that Banfield, whose relationship with Wortman spanned 19 years, was the victim of a controlling, abusive man who repeatedly beat her. Banfield has also told the RCMP and the commission that she was beaten and threatened immediately before her husband started killing people in Portapique.
On Thursday, the commission issued written reasons for its decision to limit questioning of Banfield, arguing that the role of a public inquiry is not the same as a trial.
"We have been clear from the beginning that this is not an adversarial, trial-like proceeding," the ruling says. The decision says the commission's approach "represents the most effective way to gather Ms. Banfield's best evidence."
Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer who works at the same firm as Scott, said inquiries and trials should share a commitment to finding facts.
"As much as we're in a different kind of legal proceeding, we're still in a proceeding where we have to have reliable evidence, and part of having reliable evidence is allowing it to be tested," McCulloch said. "That's largely not going to happen."
McCulloch is concerned that Banfield will not be asked about her partner's violent behaviour while they were together on that deadly weekend in April 2020.
In an earlier statement, the commission said Banfield may be accompanied by two support people and will "address remaining questions relevant to the commission's mandate."
Earlier this week, the commission released a 100-page document based on evidence provided by Banfield during four interviews with the RCMP and five interviews with the inquiry. That document provided extensive details about the killer's long history of gender-based violence.
As well, the inquiry on Wednesday was shown a video recording of a 90-minute RCMP interview, which featured Banfield providing a detailed description of what happened to her on the night of April 18, 2020.
The commission has confirmed participating lawyers have been invited to submit questions in advance of Banfield's testimony, and they can bring forward further questions on Friday.
Scott has said his clients have instructed him not to submit written questions for Banfield because doing so would lend legitimacy to a flawed process.
Lawyers for some families boycotted proceedings in May after the inquiry prevented cross-examination of two RCMP staff sergeants who oversaw the early response to the mass shooting.
Lockyer said his client was feeling apprehensive about appearing before the inquiry, which will be the first time she has spoken in public about the tragedy.
"I know ... she says to herself, `If I hadn't run and got away, would I have saved 22 lives?' And of course she says that to herself and always will. The probable answer is that it would have been 23 lives and not 22, but she's never going to believe that."
It's important to remember that Banfield was the first victim of the "mass casualty" event, he said.
"I don't think Lisa sees herself as a victim. She's too conscious of the people who were killed and their families. It's going to be a difficult day for her."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2022.
From: "Bergen, Candice - M.P." <candice.bergen@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:20:44 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
On behalf of the Hon. Candice Bergen, thank you for contacting the
Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
Ms. Bergen greatly values feedback and input from Canadians. We read
and review every incoming e-mail. Please note that this account
receives a high volume of e-mails. We reply to e-mails as quickly as
possible.
If you are a constituent of Ms. Bergen’s in Portage-Lisgar with an
urgent matter please provide complete contact information. Not
identifying yourself as a constituent could result in a delayed
response.
Once again, thank you for writing.
Sincerely,
Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Au nom de l’hon. Candice Bergen, nous vous remercions de communiquer
avec le Bureau de la cheffe de l’Opposition officielle.
Mme Bergen accorde une grande importance aux commentaires des
Canadiens. Nous lisons et étudions tous les courriels entrants.
Veuillez noter que ce compte reçoit beaucoup de courriels. Nous y
répondons le plus rapidement possible.
Si vous faites partie de l’électorat de Mme Bergen dans la
circonscription de Portage-Lisgar et que votre affaire est urgente,
veuillez fournir vos coordonnées complètes. Si vous ne le faites pas,
cela pourrait retarder la réponse.
Nous vous remercions une fois encore d’avoir pris le temps d’écrire.
Veuillez agréer nos salutations distinguées,
Bureau de la cheffe de l’Opposition officielle
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Rempel, Michelle - M.P." <Michelle.Rempel@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:20:46 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
On behalf of the Honourable Michelle Rempel Garner, P.C., M.P. thank
you for your email. Our office appreciates the time you took to get in
touch with the MP. Due to the high volume of email correspondence our
office receives, below is a guide on how your email will be responded
to:
If you are a constituent of Calgary Nose Hill:
Queries regarding government programs, policies and operations take
time to research, contact appropriate departments and collate
information for dissemination to you. If you have provided your full
contact details on your query, your email will be responded to as
necessary.
If your query is case related (i.e. immigration, CPP, EI, tax issues,
etc.), consent forms will need to be filled out before your file can
be activated. If you have not yet filled out our office’s consent
form, a staff member will be in contact with you.
If you are not a constituent of Calgary Nose Hill:
If you are not a Calgary Nose Hill resident, given the high volume of
emails we receive, your email will be reviewed and filed as
INFORMATION. If the email is Critic portfolio in nature, it will be
responded to as necessary.
If you are contacting MP Rempel Garner to review your case work,
please first contact your local MP for assistance.
If your email is a form letter:
Thank you for submitting this form letter. Due to the high volume of
emails M.P. Rempel Garner’s office receives, we are unable to
individually reply to form letters, particularly from non
constituents. Form letters are template letters generated by
organizations, webforms and other sources on a given issue. However,
M.P. Rempel Garner does review and consider information received from
all form letters.
If you are a constituent and would like a response regarding the
specific issue raised in your form letter, please email M.P. Rempel
Garner’s office individually at this email address with “Constituent -
(Insert subject)” in the subject of your email. This helps us to
identify constituents who wish to receive a response among the
hundreds of form letter responses our office receives on any given
day.
Again, thank you for reaching out to our office.
Invites:
If you have invited MP Rempel Garner to your event, please note that
decisions on what events to attend are completed on a bi-monthly
basis. As our office receives hundreds of invitations each week, our
office will only contact you if MP Rempel Garner will be attending.
Updates on MP Rempel Garner’s Work:
If you wish to know what is happening in Calgary Nose Hill and the job
MP Rempel Garner is doing for you in Ottawa, please sign up for her
e-newsletter on her website: https://mprempel.ca/
*M.P. Rempel Garner's office has a zero tolerance policy for
threatening, abusive, or aggressive language or behaviour towards the
Member and their staff. Phone calls, voicemails and emails containing
threatening or abusive language will result in the termination of
communications.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Office of The Honourable Michelle Rempel Garner, P.C., M.P.
Calgary Nose Hill
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Kennedy, Aaron" <akennedy@quispamsis.ca>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:20:55 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email.
I am out of the office until Monday, and will respond at that time. If
you require immediate assistance, please call 849-5778.
- Aaron
---------- Original message ----------
From: Premier <PREMIER@novascotia.ca>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:20:42 +0000
Subject: Thank you for your email
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to Premier Houston. This is an automatic
confirmation your message has been received.
As we are currently experiencing higher than normal volumes of
correspondence, there may be delays in the response time for
correspondence identified as requiring a response.
If you are looking for the most up-to-date information from the
Government of Nova Scotia please visit:
http://novascotia.ca<https://
Thank you,
Premier’s Correspondence Team
---------- Original message ----------
From: Justice Minister <JUSTMIN@novascotia.ca>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:20:44 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to the Minister of Justice. Please be assured
that it has been received by the Department. Your email will be
reviewed and addressed accordingly. Thank you.
---------- Original message ----------
From: Tom Taggart <tom.taggartmla@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 06:18:42 -0700
Subject: Re: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was that he would
not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday No doubt a
host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for contacting us at the office of MLA Tom.Taggart. This
email is being monitored by my Constituency Assistant Andrea. Johnson,
who will get back to you as soon as possible. If your inquiry is
urgent, please feel free to call the Constituency Office @
902-641-2335
Our Office is located @ 10653 Hwy 2 Masstown, Nova Scotia, right next
door to the Petro- Canada.
Our Office hours are Monday- Friday 8:30am - 3:30pm or by appointment.
We are closed on Holidays.
--
Tom Taggart, MLA
Colchester North
(O) - 902-641-2335
tom.taggartmla@gmail.com
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2022 10:18:37 -0300
Subject: Re: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was that he would
not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday No doubt a
host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: THopper@postmedia.com, "jagmeet.singh" <jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>,
Candice.Bergen@parl.gc.ca, "pierre.poilievre"
<pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, jennifer@halifaxexaminer.ca,
paulpalango <paulpalango@protonmail.com>, Tom.Taggartmla@gmail.com,
darren.campbell@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, jennifer.duggan@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
Bill.Blair@parl.gc.ca, bmassey@justice.gc.ca, "Amato, Mike #509"
<509@yrp.ca>, brenda.lucki@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
ethics-ethique@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>,
"Mark.Blakely" <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>,
"Marco.Mendicino" <Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>,
"Katie.Telford" <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "Michelle.Boutin"
<Michelle.Boutin@rcmp-grc.gc.
<michelle.rempel@parl.gc.ca>, kevin.leahy@pps-spp.parl.gc.ca,
Charles.Murray@gnb.ca, JUSTWEB <JUSTWEB@novascotia.ca>, Newsroom
<Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "Mike.Comeau" <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>,
"Louis.Leger" <Louis.Leger@gnb.ca>, akennedy@quispamsis.ca,
"elizabeth.mcmillan" <elizabeth.mcmillan@cbc.ca>, Justice Minister
<JUSTMIN@novascotia.ca>, PREMIER@novascotia.ca, andrewjdouglas
<andrewjdouglas@gmail.com>, smcculloch@pattersonlaw.ca,
NightTimePodcast <NightTimePodcast@gmail.com>, tim
<tim@halifaxexaminer.ca>, rpineo@pattersonlaw.ca, "jan.jensen"
<jan.jensen@justice.gc.ca>, washington field
<washington.field@ic.fbi.gov>, "Boston.Mail" <Boston.Mail@ic.fbi.gov>,
briangallant10 <briangallant10@gmail.com>, sheilagunnreid
<sheilagunnreid@gmail.com>, "stefanos.karatopis"
<stefanos.karatopis@gmail.com>, "sylvie.gadoury"
<sylvie.gadoury@radio-canada.
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, oldmaison
<oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>,
"andrea.anderson-mason" <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>, "Bill.Hogan"
<Bill.Hogan@gnb.ca>
https://www.nighttimepodcast.
the Nova Scotia Mass Shooting - July 10 - 11, 2022 - Weekly updates
and revelations (with Paul Palango)
In this double episode I share my two recent conversations with Paul
Palango. The first, recorded on July 10th, is our discussion
surrounding the interview with Rob the carpenter. The second, recorded
the next day, is an emergency update in which Paul and I discuss the
bizarre lie the that Rob the Carpenter told… and what that means to
the broader story.
Episode Links:
the Nova Scotia Mass Shooting Series:
https://www.nighttimepodcast.
Join the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Discussion Group:
https://www.facebook.com/
Send a tip related to this case: https://www.nighttimepodcast.
https://www.facebook.com/
·
Dear Frank:
I’m not a fan of your magazine; however, recently you have stepped out
of the fray and produced some very good journalism. Your interview
with Gabriel Wortman’s father being the most noteworthy. Some of your
Portapique coverage is noteworthy. Frank has a place in society.
However, your recent inclusion of Paul Palango is pointing you and our
neighbours in a very dark place as a society. I can’t reveal my real
identity due to my employment as I would be shunned by my colleagues
in media. I am aware, based on verifiable information that the
Canadian mainstream media has turned its back on Paul Palango, who was
a onetime trusted news source and held respect.
The tide began to shift several years ago when some of his views were
not based on credible information, but conjecture and speculation or
as the mainstream media believes, he is falling into some mental
health crisis.
Maclean’s leaned into Paul because he seemed to have information
nobody else had, and produced sources within the Mounties. It’s just
they were not credible, and had an axe to grind. Maclean’s verified
this fact and they cut Paul loose after that infamous story from last
June.
And they told other media sources that he is treacherous.
A colleague is working on a story about Lisa Banfield that has her and
her lawyer working on a libel suit against Frank and Paul. My sources
tell me the Mounties have nothing to suggest she is misaligned and
very much is a victim. After the inquiry and the evidence comes out
they will be positioned to be successful in showing Palango was
libellous.
I support what you do, I don’t agree with the style, but we are a free
society. My only reason for stepping in is that you are printing what
will be shown to be his false narrative based on untrustworthy sources
and possibly mental illness.
Ivana Smear,
Via email
Dear Ms. Smear:
This may come as a surprise to you, but I’ve heard this all before.
My position is very clear.
Since the first reports of gunshots at Portapique Beach on April 18,
2020, the response by the RCMP has been stranger than strange.
The Mounties arrived on scene in time to potentially trap the killer
in the community and perhaps prevent at least the last five murders.
Instead, Wortman got past them, had a rest in Debert, and then was
allowed to roam around Nova Scotia, killing nine more people.
Lisa Banfield says she hid in the woods for about eight hours on a
blistering cold night. She went to Leon Joudrey’s house at 6:34 a.m.
He has told many reporters and the police that he did not believe her
story.
The earliest reports claimed Banfield suffered severe injuries from a
beating administered by Gabriel Wortman.
Actually, the RCMP and the Crown blacked out the first description of
those injuries. The word they blacked out was “minor,” which was
consistent with what Joudrey said.
You suggest that I am treacherous and not trusted by the mainstream
media because of a story you highlighted in Maclean’s magazine from
last June.
For that story we obtained a copy of the RCMP’s undercover manual.
Among other things described in that document are the procedures the
force should use in a blown undercover operation.
The actions of the RCMP before, during and after the weekend of April
18-19 largely conform to the procedures described. I’ve spent the past
eight months trying to disprove that there was an undercover operation
in Portapique — to no avail.
The more I investigate the more it appears that someone in Wortman’s
circle appeared to have a special relationship with the authorities —
be they the RCMP, Halifax Police or even CSIS. Nothing is conclusive,
but that doesn’t mean you just give up because it’s too difficult.
That isn’t in my DNA.
My role as a journalist is to act as a disinterested investigator
whose duty it is to uncover the truth and show no fear or favouritism
to anyone. Like a pathologist, I am a friend of the dead. As Joseph
Pulitizer once put it: “Newspapers should have no friends.”
I am not here to be liked. I am not in it for the money, although some
uninformed critics have wrongly accused me of being so. I am here to
be the agent of the story and to do what it dictates that I must do.
As for Ms. Banfield, I believe it is in the public interest that her
story be fully examined because she was apparently the last person to
see Wortman before he went on his rampage.
You say Maclean’s dropped me because I was unreliable.
I can assure you that is not what happened.
I withdrew my story and chose to run it in Frank, as written.
That same story generated a number of leads which lead to the
discovery of the Pictou County analog recordings from the weekend in
question.
Stories about what was on those tapes brought even more stories and leads.
That’s what good journalists do.
As for my mental health, some people think I’m crazy for doing what
I’m doing. I have a nice, comfortable life. I took this on to help
other journalists, but when I found their work wanting, I got more and
more involved. That being the case, maybe I do have a mental health
issue. I admit that I can be a pain in the ass, but I always strive to
do the right thing.
The funny thing about my mental health is that the one agency slyly
pushing that narrative has been the RCMP.
“Look at the source,” referring to me, when another reporter tried
following up one of my stories.
“Another fairy tale,” Supt. Darren Campbell put it to the CBC’s
Elizabeth McMillan when commenting on another story. I stand by my
work in the past and now. Don’t you find it disturbing that the RCMP
is willing to invest in character assassination rather than address
the very real issues raised about his dysfunctional organization?
That’s not a good thing in a supposed democracy.
If you still insist on pushing the mental health angle, perhaps we can
both submit to a Rorschach test to determine who sees the crazier
stuff in the inkblots.
You also state that Banfield and her lawyer, James Lockyer, are
planning to sue me sometime down the road.
I know Mr. Lockyer from my days in Toronto. He lived on the next block
when he was defending Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, who strolled by my
house on his regular walks. Lockyer is a good lawyer and always has
been. He’s got to do what he thinks is best for his client.
If Banfield is truly planning to head down that road, I would give her
and Lockyer the following advice.
This is not my first rodeo. As a corporate journalist and as an
individual over the course of my career, I’ve been involved in about
18 major lawsuits (mostly on behalf of reporters who worked for me)
and occasionally as a plaintiff. I’m 16 and 0 with a couple of draws.
My last case should be seen as instructive.
In the mid-1990s, a group of individuals hiding behind a $3-billion
corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange sued me for
$11-million to stop me from asking questions about them. It didn’t
stop me. They went up to $20 million. It still didn’t stop me. They
tried to hire hit man Ken Murdock to kill me. Murdock turned down the
job because he didn’t think it was right to kill a civilian.
How do I know? I met him. I spent four days in the maximum-security
Kingston Penitentiary interviewing him.
I didn’t counter-sue the company. Instead, I launched an entirely
different suit against it, its executives and lawyers. I called their
lawsuit “public relations.” It ended up being an almost 10-year fight.
The company went bankrupt, but the individuals didn’t. I ended up
getting a nice house of it.
The bottom line is this. I am prepared to take the slings and many
arrows that are fired back at me as a result of what I write.
But attacking the messenger is what the desperate and corrupt have
always done. It’s as old as the Old Testament. Look up Malachi.
The Greek philosopher Sophocles put it this way: “No one loves the
messenger who brings bad news.”
And here’s my take on it all: If you don’t like what I’m reporting and
writing, get off your butt, suck up some courage, do some of your own
investigating and either confirm what I’m reporting or prove me wrong.
You’d be doing everyone a favour — including yourself.
Paul Palango,
Chester
Attacking the messenger...
https://www.frankmagazine.ca/
Comments
Nicholas Langille
Give it to em Paul.
If the rcmp had answers that could be strung together coherently maybe
I could trust what they say. But that hasn't happened .… See more
Reply
1y
Jim Barkhouse
Thank you Paul for your in depth coverage of this tragedy, your
pursuit of the truth will set the facts straight and will be
appreciated by all.
Reply
1y
Donna Marie Jessome
Wtg Mr. Palango, Keep doing You!
You and LGC are basically all we really have in this Massacre ,who are
trying your darntest to bring the truth forward and for that I Thank
You.
Reply
1y
Kelly Smales
This is awesome Paul. We need more courageous journalists like you!
Reply
1y
Christine Elliott
Excellent response Paul. as is your work. You’ve been tireless with
the Portipique story and your past work about the RCMP is so valuable.
Reply
1y
Paula Jarrett
Excellent work - keep going. People impacted by this horror deserve
nothing less. We all deserve nothing less.
Reply
1y
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Justice Minister <JUSTMIN@novascotia.ca>
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2022 07:24:06 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for your email to the Minister of Justice. Please be assured
that it has been received by the Department. Your email will be
reviewed and addressed accordingly. Thank you.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Leger, Louis (PO/CPM)" <Louis.Leger@gnb.ca>
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2022 07:24:02 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Merci pour votre courriel. Je serai absent du bureau jusqu'au 14
juillet 2022. SVP contacter Laura Peasey au Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca ou au
506-230-1364 pour l’assistance.
Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office until July 14,
2022. Please contact Laura Peasey at Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca or at
506-230-1364 for assistance.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Bergen, Candice - M.P." <candice.bergen@parl.gc.ca>
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2022 07:24:04 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
On behalf of the Hon. Candice Bergen, thank you for contacting the
Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
Ms. Bergen greatly values feedback and input from Canadians. We read
and review every incoming e-mail. Please note that this account
receives a high volume of e-mails. We reply to e-mails as quickly as
possible.
If you are a constituent of Ms. Bergen’s in Portage-Lisgar with an
urgent matter please provide complete contact information. Not
identifying yourself as a constituent could result in a delayed
response.
Once again, thank you for writing.
Sincerely,
Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Au nom de l’hon. Candice Bergen, nous vous remercions de communiquer
avec le Bureau de la cheffe de l’Opposition officielle.
Mme Bergen accorde une grande importance aux commentaires des
Canadiens. Nous lisons et étudions tous les courriels entrants.
Veuillez noter que ce compte reçoit beaucoup de courriels. Nous y
répondons le plus rapidement possible.
Si vous faites partie de l’électorat de Mme Bergen dans la
circonscription de Portage-Lisgar et que votre affaire est urgente,
veuillez fournir vos coordonnées complètes. Si vous ne le faites pas,
cela pourrait retarder la réponse.
Nous vous remercions une fois encore d’avoir pris le temps d’écrire.
Veuillez agréer nos salutations distinguées,
Bureau de la cheffe de l’Opposition officielle
On 7/11/22, David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
> Thursday, 30 June 2022
> How the N.S. mass shooter controlled, exploited women around him
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
>
> Video unavailable
> This video is private
>
>
> the Nova Scotia Mass Shooting - July 10, 2022 - with Paul Palango
> 296 watching now
> Started streaming 28 minutes ago
> Nighttime Podcast
> 7.45K subscribers
> Paul Palango and I will discuss the unfolding public inquiry into the
> Nova Scotia Mass Shootings. Advance questions and comments can be
> submitted by voice memo at nighttimepodcast.com/contact
>
> https://nationalpost.com/news/
>
>
> Mass shootings caused by 'masculinity,' says report commissioned by
> Nova Scotia inquiry
>
> The paper makes few mentions of the April 2020 massacre in which a
> 51-year-old man driving a replica police car murdered 22 people
> Author of the article:
> Tristin Hopper
> Publishing date:
> May 03, 2022
>
> RCMP officers prepare to take mass shooter Gabriel Wortman into
> custody at a gas station in Enfield, N.S. on Sunday April 19,
> 2020.RCMP officers prepare to take mass shooter Gabriel Wortman into
> custody at a gas station in Enfield, N.S. on Sunday April 19, 2020.
> Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tim Krochak
>
> Amid criticisms that Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission has been
> far too reticent to criticize police actions amidst Canada’s deadliest
> mass shooting, this week the inquiry took a different focus: the role
> of “masculinity.”
>
> “Our research suggests that mass shootings are a gendered issue: they
> fundamentally have to do with the relationship between men,
> masculinity, and guns,” read the report tabled this week by the
> inquiry.
>
> Mass Shootings and Masculinity, drafted by two University of
> California sociologists, told the commissioners that mass shootings
> are inherently “enactments of masculinity,” and that in addition to
> curbing gun ownership, governments must pursue “cultural change.”
>
> The Mass Casualty Commission is convening hearings this week into the
> April 2020 active shooter incident in which a 51-year-old man driving
> a replica police car murdered 22 people at locations across rural Nova
> Scotia.
>
> In addition to probing the details of the massacre and the police
> response, the commission has also been mandated to examine
> “gender-based and intimate partner violence.”
>
> Notably, the massacre’s perpetrator had a lengthy history of violence
> against his common-law partner, Lisa Banfield. His April 2020 killing
> spree began after an argument in which he shot at Banfield and
> attempted to lock her in one of his replica police cars (she escaped,
> and ultimately survived the massacre).
>
>
> Commission counsel Amanda Byrd presents information at the Mass
> Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia
> on April 18/19, 2020, in Halifax.
> Nova Scotia mass shooting gunman drew police attention 10 years
> before killings
> A roadside memorial to victims of the Nova Scotia mass killing, in
> Portapique, N.S. on April 22, 2020.
> Questioning his decisions, RCMP supervisor during N.S. mass
> shooting took 16-month leave afterward
>
> Another expert report received by the commission looked at the
> statistical link between gender-based violence and mass casualty
> attacks. “There is emerging evidence of a very real public risk of
> ‘private’ violence,” reads the report, which was commissioned for the
> inquiry from researchers out of Australia’s Monash University.
>
> But the University of California report does not examine any of the
> specifics of the Nova Scotia shootings, and only briefly touches on
> Canadian mass shootings generally. Rather, it focuses almost entirely
> on mass shootings in the United States, where the phenomenon is known
> to occur with far greater frequency as compared to the rest of the
> world.
>
> The 44-page report writes that U.S. mass shootings do not always
> correlate to state-level rates of gun ownership (Alaska, one of the
> most armed states, also has one of its lowest levels of mass
> shootings). So, researchers also cite a raft of sociological papers
> linking gun violence with race, right-wing politics and even
> “masculine overcompensation.”
>
> “Gun ownership, gun-related fatalities, and gun violence more
> generally are all gendered phenomena,” it reads.
>
> Researchers note at several points throughout the paper that their
> theories may have little bearing on Canada. While attributing American
> mass shootings to a protection-centric U.S. gun culture, the paper
> also says that Canada seems to have a “pre-1970 U.S. gun culture”
> which primarily treats firearms as hunting implements. Not mentioned
> is that in Canada, unlike the United States, it is technically
> forbidden to own firearms for the purposes of personal protection.
>
> In one of the report’s few direct mentions of the Nova Scotia
> massacre, the authors write only that it “resists easy
> classification.”
>
> Mass Casualty Commission hearings first began in February, and have
> faced heavy criticism from the families of massacre victims for its
> apparent reticence to question police actions during the 13 hours of
> the massacre.
>
> Perhaps most notably, the inquiry decided not to include evidence from
> a victim’s FitBit showing that she had a pulse for more than eight
> hours after RCMP members declared her dead.
>
> Hundreds of documents related to the inquiry have also been
> mysteriously removed from the Mass Casualty Commission’s website,
> including testimony from RCMP members criticizing the understaffing at
> select detachments and even internal accusations that one member
> allowed the shooter to “get away.”
>
the Nova Scotia Mass Shooting - Lisa Banfield Re-enactment watch along / discussion
3 Comments
Nothing happened at Brink's, and why that's Important
1 Comment
MCC Day 46 – Presentation of Lisa Banfield’s Interviews and Re-enactments
12 Comments
MCC - DAY 48 - LISA BANFIELD VIDEOS AND LEAF AUSTRALIA
24 Comments
June 4 2020 Louise Renault interview with Leon Joudrey
1 Comment
Leon Joudrey: in his own words
51 Comments
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Relatives of N.S. mass shooting victims say their lawyers should be allowed to question gunman's spouse
From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2022 02:11:03 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Hey Palango Methinks Madame Hupman asked
some clever questions today N'esy Pas?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
Due to the volume of messages received, this automatic response
informs you that your email has been received and will be reviewed in
a timely manner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ri5-fMbzE&ab_channel=LittleGreyCells
No comments:
Post a Comment