On Wednesday, interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen addressed allegations made by Superintendent Darren Campbell that Brenda Lucki had a backroom deal with the Liberals to push a gun control agenda in the wake of the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
She expressed concerns about having a Parliamentary committee to investigate the allegations, expressing skepticism about the New Democrats’ ability to prevent the Liberals from covering up evidence.
“I want to tell everyone that Conservatives believe Superintendent Darren Campbell,” said Bergen to reporters in Ottawa. “When he says that Brenda Lucki, the commissioner pressured him, pressured the RCMP and the reason she did it was because she had a made a commitment, or she had been pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office and/or the Public Safety Minister’s Office, we believe Superintendent Campbell.”
“This is disgusting to know that the prime minister and his office would use the death of Canadians for his own political gain, but unfortunately, we have seen it before,” she said.
According to the Halifax Examiner, the commissioner pressed RCMP subordinates to release information about the weapons used by Gabriel Wortman in his April 18-19 shooting spree. Commanders with the Nova Scotia RCMP refused to do so for fear it would “jeopardize” investigations.
“We believe very strongly the prime minister, his office, ad the minister of public safety’s office, and the former minister need to be held accountable. We will make sure that happens.
She was asked how the Conservatives would hold the Liberals accountable, Bergen said there needs to be a heavily independent investigation to take place and the Trudeau government will need to be fully transparent if they had nothing to hide.
“Right now they are denying wrongdoing. This is a pattern, this is what this prime minister does. You’ll recall with SNC Lavalin, The Globe broke the story and the prime minister looked in the camera and said ‘I did not pressure the Attorney General Jody Wilson Raybould.’ We know now that that’s not true. So when the minister of public safety looks in the camera and says ‘I did not pressure the commissioner,’ it’s very, very difficult to believe that.”
“We believe there needs to be a full investigation if the minister and prime minister have nothing to hide, they’ll hide nothing. They’ll be completely transparent, will not be hiding documents, not be hiding emails, or hiding behind cabinet confidence.
“The prime minister has a habit of doing this, using people, using his influence for his own political gain, and interfering in criminal investigations, and in this case, an investigation into the biggest mass killing in Canadian history.”
when asked about the culture of the government Brenda Lucki said she wasn’t at direction but the note said she felt
“We see the Prime Minister continually use challenges that Canadians are facing, big challenges in this country whether it was the convoy and the protesters and vaccines. To divide wedge and stigmatize Canadians, Whether it was SNC Lavalin whether its many of his own failings he uses it and tries to turn it on Canadians and I think that this is just a pattern we’ve seen and he denies and then he blames. Deny, deflect then blame”
She also voiced deep concerns that the Liberal-NDP so called not a coalition would work with each other to avoid accountability: “We’ve seen the NDP help cover up a lot for the Liberals. I have concerns about a Parliamentary committee because first of all, the Liberals have the majority, and now they have the majority with the NDP. So I think there needs to be more independence for more of an independent investigation to happen. I don’t trust the NDP to not cover up for the Liberals.”
The leader of the New Democrats, Jagmeet Singh, refused to say if he believed the allegations or if he trusted the ministers and Commissioner Lucki during a press conference on Wednesday, stating that more information was required.
