A Brief History of Inquiries in Nova Scotia

The Mass Casualty Commission will be the seventh Inquiry held in Nova Scotia, including the ongoing Desmond Fatality Inquiry. There are some interesting commonalities and distinctions among these seven, with the flexible legal structure of inquiries also being on display. The list includes a wrongful conviction inquiry, three fatality inquiries, an investigative inquiry, and a restorative inquiry.

The Mass Casualty Commission has three Commissioners, like the Marshall Inquiry, and is something of a hybrid case in terms of how we might characterize the nature of the inquiry. There were 22 fatality victims, so like the Hyde Inquiry, the Nunn Commission, and the Desmond Inquiry, it will have some of the features of a fatality inquiry in that it will look for underlying causes of what happened, such as inter-generational and domestic violence.

It is also an investigative inquiry, like Westray, as there are factual issues to determine and also questions to be answered in terms of whether mistakes were made or police planning and emergency measures need to be improved when reacting to active shooter situations.

Being a relatively recent phenomena in relation to the legal history of Nova Scotia, the legal frameworks of inquiries in Nova Scotia are still developing, as we gain experience with different formats, and as the nuances of each new scenario are taken into account.

This procedural flexibility is a strength of the inquiry structure, and so even as more take place and lessons are learned as to what kinds of things work best, that core flexibility should remain, so that the structure can adapt to whatever future situation might call for the in-depth rigour of an inquiry process.