The RCMP released a recording of a controversial phone meeting that showed RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki criticizing staff in Nova Scotia for not detailing the makes and models of firearms used in the Nova Scotia massacre..That meeting has been at the centre of allegations the Prime Minister's Office and Public Safety minister Bill Blair (Scarborough Southwest, ON.) interfered with the investigation. The allegations claim the Liberal government wanted to know the types of guns used in the 2020 shooting in preparation for pending gun control legislation..Four Nova Scotia RCMP staff members testified at the Mass Casualty Commission that Lucki reprimanded staff during an April 28, 2022 meeting for not detailing the firearm information at a news conference earlier that day. All have said they believe political interference was a factor involved in the dressing down they received. .According to a transcript of the phone call, Lucki asked the RCMP staff members if they realized "what’s going on in the world of handguns and guns right now?"."The fact [the Liberal government's] in the middle of trying to get a legislation going, the fact that legislation is supposed to actually help police, the fact that the very little information I asked to be put in speaking notes at around 11:30 this morning... could not be accommodated.".After explaining she felt "frustrated" and "disrespected," Lucki says she wanted the makes and models of the firearms because she "got that request from the minister's office." She is presumably talking about Blair.."And I shared with the minister that in fact it was going to in the news release and it wasn’t... It's disheartening for me to try to manage our RCMP, which is bigger than Nova Scotia, and trying to at least give the prime minister a bit of information before he hears it on the news.".The audio recording, made by Dan Brien, director of media relations with the RCMP, was believed to have been deleted from his phone. But it was recovered and released publicly on Thursday..Lucki previously claimed Blair never directed or ordered her to disclose the makes and models of the guns. And Blair testified during the Mass Casualty Commission, "at no time did I ask Commissioner Lucki to reveal that information.".Conservative MP Raquel Dancho (Kildonan-St. Paul, MB), the shadow minister for public safety, called for Blair to resign on Friday.."From the beginning, Minister Blair and RCMP Commissioner Lucki misled Canadians and they lied to a parliamentary committee," she said. "By requesting this information be released to further the Liberal political agenda, the minister pressured the commissioner and politically interfered in the RCMP investigation.".Dancho said Blair and Lucki were both attempting to "cover up the scandal" and prevent Canadians from getting to the truth of the Liberal government's political pressuring of the RCMP.."The minister and the commissioner lied and violated the independence of the RCMP and jeopardized the investigation into the worst mass killing in Canadian history. We do not have confidence in this minister to hold any position in this government and he should resign immediately along with the RCMP commissioner," she said..The recording was released just a day before the national handgun freeze took effect, barring Canadians from buying, selling transferring or importing the firearms.."Today is a historic day," said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino (Eglinton-Lawrence, ON). "We are using all tools at our disposal to fight gun violence and will not rest until all Canadians feel safe in their communities.”
