Panel of experts appointed to help lead Nova Scotia’s mass shooting inquiry

HALIFAX — The public inquiry into the April mass shooting in Nova Scotia has announced the hiring of six experts who will help set a course for the investigation.

Those joining the inquiry include Thomas Cromwell, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice who will serve as commission counsel. Cromwell previously served with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

As well, the inquiry has appointed Christine Hanson as executive director and chief administrative officer. Hanson is director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. She also worked as an international lawyer and diplomat in a variety of roles with Global Affairs Canada.

The inquiry has also appointed a community liaison, a mental health expert, an investigations co-ordinator and an expert in charge of research.

“We are pleased to have secured a group of experienced and dedicated individuals who are among the most highly regarded in the country in their respective fields,” the commission said in a statement Thursday. 

“There are a lot of questions to be asked and evidence to be gathered by the commission in order to fulfil its mandate and we want the best people to help us in this process.”

The other team members include:

— Research director Emma Cunliffe is a professor at the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia and a visiting professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She is a scholar in complex criminal matters related to violence against women.

— Investigations director Barbara McLean is deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service and is originally from Antigonish, N.S.

— Mental health director Mary Pyche has worked as an addiction clinical therapist and has held leadership roles in the Nova Scotia Health Department regarding mental health and addiction. 

— Community liaison director Maureen Wheller co-chaired the first public advisory group that worked with Nova Scotia’s mental health and addictions program.

The independent federal-provincial inquiry, which has the authority to compel witnesses to testify and produce documents, is expected to produce an interim report by May 1, 2022 and a final report by Nov. 1, 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2021.

The Canadian Press