The Mountie who led the first response to the Nova Scotia mass shooting has testified his plans to block the killer’s escape route were thrown off by a “misunderstanding,” and a crush of other duties. It was one of the miscues Staff Sergeant Brian Rehill says occurred as he faced a “tsunami” of information about the killings in Portapique. Rehill was allowed special accommodations for his testimony for unspecified health reasons, including an exemption from being cross-examined by lawyers representing families of the victims. The hearing was pre-taped as journalists and lawyers watched via zoom.
A national freeze on importing, buying, selling or otherwise transferring handguns is a central feature of firearm-control legislation tabled Monday by the federal Liberals. The measure does not ban handguns outright, allowing current owners to continue to possess and use them, but seeks to cap the number already in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the bill would also create a new “red flag” law allowing courts to require people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms to police.
A Pictou man known online as “Raging Dissent” is facing 13 firearms charges following an R-C-M-P investigation into a video posted online showing a man waving a handgun. The charges were laid after R-C-M-P officers searched Jeremy Mitchell MacKenzie’s Pictou home in January and allegedly found five restricted firearms, prohibited magazines, body armour and ammunition. MacKenzie faces charges including three counts of careless use of a firearm and three counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm. He was also charged in March with criminal harassment, mischief and other offences in connection with an anti-mask protest outside the home of Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang.
The federal workforce development minister has announced nearly 247-million dollars in funding for the skilled trades at the National Apprenticeship Conference in Halifax. Carla Qualtrough says the investment is expected to help create more than 25-thousand apprenticeship positions in the skilled trades by small and medium-sized employers across Canada. The federal government says the funding is aimed at addressing the need for skilled trades workers with about 700-thousand expected to retire in Canada by 2028. BuildForce Canada says the construction industry alone needs to recruit 309-thousand new workers over the next decade to meet expected demand.
The United Kingdom is getting ready to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee commemorating her 70 years on the throne over four days this week. The Platinum Jubilee begins with a huge military parade on Thursday. Saturday’s highlight is a star-studded live concert, and the celebration ends Sunday with a procession to Buckingham Palace led by the Royal Household Cavalry.
