MCC Day 7 - Further Requests for RCMP Witnesses

There were less than two hours of proceedings on Day 7 of the Mass Casualty Commission. The process that was cut short by the winter weather last Thursday continued this morning, whereby lawyers for the various participants argued over whether, and if so when, certain officers might give testimony in the MCC. Today was dedicated mainly to discussing RCMP supervisors, including Staff Sergeants Halliday, MacCallum, Rehill, West, and O’Brien, along with Cpl. Mills, who was the supervisor for the Emergency Response Team (ERT). Each of the Staff Sergeants were involved in supervisory roles throughout the relevant timeframe, and the ERT squad (aka – the SWAT team) was called in to assist with the search for the killer. Unlike with the ‘regular’ members of the RCMP, Commissioner MacDonald stated that for these supervisors, the question was not whether they would testify, but when. He said that there is expected to be a further Foundational Document prepared which deals with the ‘RCMP Command Decision Narrative’, and that we can expect to hear from the officers who were calling the shots at that later (the exact time was not stated) time. Given the Commissioners’ rejection of the NPF’s expert last week, who was planning to argue for a blanket ‘trauma-informed’ exemption from testifying for all officers, it seems unlikely the MCC will be inclined to make many broad statements about trauma experiences among police officers. They seem inclined, rather, to look at each individual on a case-by-case basis. That said, it also does not seem illogical in any way to suggest that there are distinctions between trauma directly experienced, and that which results from supervising the experiences of others. The (somewhat-manufactured) offence from the federal lawyers is unlikely to persuade the Commissioners otherwise. These questions around witnesses are key decisions for the Commissioners to make, and though Chief Justice MacDonald said they would be making them as soon as possible, he tempered expectations somewhat as well, and so I do not necessarily expect those decisions to be made public on Wednesday when the MCC proceedings continue. Instead, the plan for Wednesday is to have Commission Counsel, Roger Burrill, continue his presentations of the Foundational Documents, this one dealing with the overnight movements of the perpetrator. We will also hear from lawyers for the parties who have questions arising from that Foundational Document, and will recommend particular witnesses to address any gaps they identify or other questions they may have.