Nova Scotia to review province's policing structure

Nova Scotia announced Friday it will conduct a comprehensive review of the province's policing structure, just as the RCMP released an update on its efforts to implement the recommendations of a panel struck to investigate the causes of the April 2020 mass shooting.

A news release from the Nova Scotia government said the review, expected to be completed by 2025, could potentially recommend changes for how policing services are delivered.

"We are committed to making our communities safer, and a big part of that work is ensuring our policing services are effective, efficient and structured in a way that best serves Nova Scotians," Attorney General and Justice Minister Brad Johns said in the release.

The move comes roughly six months after the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) released its final report on the rampage by a lone gunman that left 22 people dead, making 130 recommendations including a new council to review the structure of policing.

There are currently 11 police agencies in Nova Scotia — 10 municipal police forces and the RCMP serving as the provincial police agency.

Update from RCMP

Meanwhile, the RCMP announced Friday it has met the timelines of two recommendations from the MCC's final report.

The first was related to front-line supervisor training. An external review of that training was delivered to RCMP on Wednesday, although it was not released publicly Friday.

"The RCMP is currently reviewing this report, and preparing a work plan to implement its recommendations," the RCMP said on its website.

It said it is also assessing this recommendation in relation to how the RCMP manages crises, including efforts to review how it currently responds to critical incidents.

"Taken together, this work will help to further improve the RCMP's overall approach to managing crises," it said.

The second recommendation is related to management culture. It asked the RCMP commissioner to provide a document that explains how the organization elects, develops, recognizes and rewards its commissioned officers and those in equivalent civilian roles.

The report was posted to the RCMP's website on Friday.

It includes a formal action plan "with the objective to foster a healthy management culture, create a sustainable employee experience during their tenure at the RCMP, and to better equip officers and executives to develop as senior leaders within the organization."

The actions include:

• Strengthening human resources around executive and officer development.
• Incorporating equity, diversity and inclusion into performance and talent management and succession planning.
• Developing and implementing an onboarding program for new officers and executives that incorporates obligations to set the standard for the workplace, protect employees of the workforce from inappropriate or offensive conduct and to protect the employer from exposure to civil claims by individual claimants.

The RCMP added it would release the organization's MCC implementation action plan later this year.

The provincial government issued a request for proposals Friday for an external consultant to conduct the comprehensive, technical review of policing.

A news release said the consultant will work closely with a police review advisory committee, "which will include people from equity-deserving groups, the provincial government, police agencies, subject matter experts and diverse community representatives."

The co-chairs of the advisory committee, Clare MacLellan, retired Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice, and Hayley Crichton, executive director of public safety and security with the Department of Justice, declined an interview with CBC News on Friday. A spokesperson said in an email that it's still early days for the committee, and the next step is choosing its members.