Evidence of meeting #31 for Public Safety and National Security in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A video is available from Parliament.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Okay.
Ms. Tessier, were you involved in the drafting of the commissioner's public statement for June 21 that was released this year?
2:05 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
June 21 of this year? No. I've been retired since November.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Okay.
Were you informed that evening, in the 40 minutes when the shooting started, that this had happened?
2:05 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
No.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
2:05 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
It is terrible to say it is a blur, but I believe it was the following morning.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Okay, thank you.
I have more questions, but I'd like to turn the rest of my time over to my colleague Raquel Dancho.
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Chair, I'm going to move a motion, which procedure-wise we know we would need to discuss now, or at your discretion, Mr. Chair. Of course, at the will of the committee, we could discuss it after we finish this round of questions from all parties.
My staff has hard copies in both languages and is emailing an electronic copy to the clerk now.
Mr. Chair, I move the following motion:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee hold a meeting on the Allegations of Political Interference in the 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Murder Investigation study no later than Wednesday, August 31, 2022, to hear from the following witnesses: Superintendent Darren Campbell, Nova Scotia RCMP; Lia Scanlan, former RCMP Communications Director; Alison Whelan, RCMP Chief Strategic Policy and External Relations Officer; Dan Brien, Director of Media Relations, RCMP; Jolene Bradley, Director, Strategic Communications (Operations), RCMP; Ken MacKillop, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Communications and Consultations), Privy Council Office; Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and his officials.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jim Carr
Has this motion been translated and circulated to all members of the committee?
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
We are passing it out now, Mr. Chair.
The clerk is in the process of doing that.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jim Carr
Okay. I think we should deal with the motion now.
Clerk, once the motion has been circulated, give me the high sign and then I will open up the floor to comments on the motion.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Chair, could we finish the round of questions and then come to the motion?
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
We could even defer it to later in the meeting, actually.
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jim Carr
I'm subject to the will of the committee.
Does the committee want to finish this round of questions and then deal with the motion? Can I have a show of hands?
Clerk, I see thumbs-up, so let's proceed in that fashion.
The time has run out in this current slot, so I would move to Ms. Damoff.
You have five minutes in this round. Go ahead, the floor is yours.
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Thank you.
Ms. Tessier, can you just confirm what was transpiring in terms of communication between Nova Scotia and the commissioner around the dates of April 27 and 28? My understanding from the testimony we've heard is that drafts of press releases or drafts of speaking notes were shared between Nova Scotia and you and the commissioner. She had an understanding, which she shared with the government, about what was going to be said at the press conference. Is that correct?
2:10 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
Yes. As notes were finalized, I would share them with her chief of staff. Obviously, we ended up finalizing some and then revising them, but yes, I would share copies with the commissioner's office.
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
So when we talk about her being upset, she was being given information from Nova Scotia. She was then, in turn, sharing what she believed was going to transpire at a press conference on April 28, and the information that she was given was incorrect—or the information that she was given that she shared with the minister or the minister's staff was incorrect. Is that what transpired?
2:10 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
More or less; I can't speak to whether or not Nova Scotia was sharing information with her. I was not aware of that. As far as I know—
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Sorry. Just to clarify, it was being shared with you, who in turn was sharing it with her.
2:10 p.m.
Former Director General, National Communication Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, As an Individual
Yes. We were working very closely with our colleagues in Nova Scotia. Then I would share it.
2:10 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Okay. So her expectation, and what she said in terms of what she had shared with Minister Blair—
2:10 p.m.
Conservative
