RCMP replaces pair responding to probe

In the wake of nagging questions about conflict of interest, Mounties have replaced two people from the RCMP team tasked with providing information to the public inquiry probing last year's mass shootings.

Chief Supt. John Robin, who headed the team, is married to Chief Supt. Janis Gray, Halifax's top Mountie. Retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Butcher, who was working with Robin on the team, is married to Nova Scotia Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, who leads the force in this province and plans to retire this fall before the joint federal-provincial public inquiry gets underway.

“We recognize the importance of providing a full factual, unbiased account of what transpired in April 2020, and stood up a Project Team to co-ordinate the RCMP response to the Mass Casualty Commission,” Deputy Commissioner Brian Brennan, who is in charge of contract and Indigenous policing, said in a written statement.

“C/supt. John Robin and Staff Sergeant (retired) Mike Butcher were deployed to the team due to their qualifications and experience, but concerns were subsequently raised about the appearance of a conflict of interest on each of their parts.”

RCMP ‘TOOK CONCERNS SERIOUSLY’

The RCMP “took these concerns seriously and acted promptly to review the assignments in question to make any appropriate changes,” Brennan said. “That review is now complete and I have accepted its recommendations. C/supt. Robin and retired S/ Sgt. Butcher also asked to step away from the Project Team in order to ensure the RCMP'S support to the Mass Casualty Commission remains a defendable, credible and transparent process.”

The Chronicle Herald asked the RCMP for a copy of recommendations, but the force has not responded to that request.

Dalhousie University law professor Wayne Mackay said Friday that “it's a very good thing” Robin and Butcher have left their roles of acting as liaisons to the Mass Casualty Commission.

“Any kind of questions of credibility or trust in relation to the RCMP and the inquiry is a big problem,” Mackay said.

“So, when anyone throws any doubt or suspicion, I think it is better if they step aside, even if, in fact, there is no real problem.”

The killer — whom Saltwire is not naming — started his murderous 13-hour rampage in Portapique, where he had a cottage, on the evening of April 18, 2020, after, according to his common-law spouse Lisa Banfield, he snapped. He shot multiple people and set homes on fire. Dressed in a police uniform and driving a fake police car, the 51-year-old Dartmouth denturist evaded RCMP and killed four more people in the Wentworth area before heading toward Halifax, killing several more along the way. By the time Mounties shot him dead April 19 at the Enfield Big Stop, he had killed 22 people.

Robin raised eyebrows this spring when it was revealed that he was handing out business cards that implied he worked for the Mass Casualty Commission. The matter earned a stern rebuke from a lawyer for the public inquiry, which feared the matter would call its independence into question.

“It could have suggested that he had some lack of clarity as to exactly how he was representing himself and that people might speak to him differently if they thought he was directly with the RCMP or whether he was with the Mass Casualty Commission,” Mackay said. “That's a pretty big important identity question and, given that there seemed to be any uncertainty or appearance of uncertainty about that, it's better that he's stepped aside.”

Bergerman plans to leave her post in October.

“After more than 35 years of being a proud member of the RCMP, including the privilege of leading ‘H' Division for the last 2 ½ years, Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman will be retiring this fall. She is not granting interviews at this time,” Cpl. Lisa Croteau said in an email.

Mackay's surprised to see Bergerman retire from the RCMP before the public inquiry starts hearing from witnesses.

“I think it's a bit, at a minimum, interesting, and in some ways unfortunate timing, because they're at a point where leadership is important (as is) continuity of leadership as they investigate how the RCMP responded to the Portapique tragedy,” Mackay said. “So, it's unfortunate that leadership will not be there.”

Mackay said he's “not in any way” suggesting there was a problem with the role Bergerman played in the response to the mass shootings.

‘OPTICS ARE NOT GOOD’

“But, again, the optics are not good in that you have people stepping away from positions,” said Mackay, who also pointed that former justice minister Mark Furey, who is a retired Mountie, is not reoffering in the looming provincial election.

The RCMP hasn't given any indication of whether Bergerman's retirement had been planned for a long time, Mackay said.

“One of the things that the RCMP have done poorly throughout this is provide clear, accurate and full information,” he said. “And when they don't do that, people are left to speculate on what the real information is.”

He fears that Bergerman's departure could signal that there are more surprises to come about how the RCMP dealt with the mass killer.

“It certainly seems to me that that's one possible interpretation,” Mackay said. “There's no question that the Portapique tragedy and the mass casualty inquiry are huge matters for the RCMP and for Nova Scotia generally. So, it's not unreasonable to speculate about whether there's any connection.”

Chief Supt. Michael O'malley is slated to assume leadership in August of the team co-ordinating the RCMP'S response to the public inquiry.