Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: I would like to express my appreciation for Senator Griffin’s outstanding work. If you invite me and my spouse to play golf next summer in your beautiful province, I will not hesitate to say yes.

Senator Gold, in April, another Maritime province will mark the second anniversary of the largest mass shooting in Canada’s history, the Portapique shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people. The public hearings on the subject finally got under way last week, and many criticisms have been levelled at the commission responsible for the public inquiry with respect to its transparency and independence. The families of the 22 victims of the Portapique shooting are condemning the way in which the inquiry was carried out over the past two years. They were not kept informed of the proceedings of this public inquiry. Once again, the federal government forgot about them. The Premier of Nova Scotia, Tim Houston, criticized the inquiry as follows, and I quote:

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have heard family members express frustration and concern about the structure of the inquiry. They feel left in the dark. This is not only disrespectful, it should cause us all to pause and ask, if the families don’t have confidence in the process, how can the public?

Another rather surprising statement was made by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Nova Scotia MP Sean Fraser, who heard the same frustrations from the victims’ families. He said, and I quote, “We are united in our view that the families’ confidence in this process remains a paramount consideration.”

I remind you that this inquiry was set up to get answers and shed light on the RCMP’s operations. This inquiry has been very unclear and obscure so far, which leads us to believe that it was mandated to hide the truth from the victims’ families.

Senator Gold, why are the victims’ families not playing an essential role in the public inquiry, as they should?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Senator Gold, the families of the victims cannot defend themselves, as you know, because they are still not represented by an ombudsman. They have been deprived of their representative who would play a crucial role in this inquiry. This is contrary to the principle of the right to information and the right to participation enshrined in the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.

Why did the government not take the initiative to appoint an interim ombudsman six months ago, pending the appointment of a new ombudsman, as it did with the ombudsman for criminals?