Work begins on how to make changes set out in report on 2020 mass killings in N.S.

It has been six months since the release of a final report from the panel investigating the causes of a mass shooting  — and the police response — in April 2020 when 22 Nova Scotians were murdered during a two-day rampage.

The report from the  Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) contained 130 recommendations and established timelines for when those recommendations should be met.

A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia government said an announcement is coming very soon on the recommendation to conduct a comprehensive review of policing in the province. That includes a look at whether the RCMP should continue in its role as the provincial police force.

For its part, the RCMP is promising to provide details on Friday of its efforts to implement the MCC's recommendations. A spokesperson for the RCMP in Ottawa said the update would appear on the Mounties' website.

Meanwhile, the progress monitoring committee has held its first meeting. It was the body created to ensure the MCC's recommendations don't languish on a government shelf somewhere, like so many previous reports and recommendations.

The monitoring committee includes representatives from three levels of government, police agencies including the RCMP and family members of 22 victims killed by a lone gunman. Retired Nova Scotia Court of Appeal justice Linda Lee Oland is the chair of the committee. She said she reached out to the families before the first meeting to discuss what they were looking for from this group.

"One of the things that struck me was how often family members said to me that the work of the progress monitoring commission, in following the implementation of the recommendations by the governments and others, are the legacy of their loss," Oland said Thursday.

She said while there has been animosity among some of the committee members in the past, the meeting went well.

"It would not be a surprise if there was emotion at times during our discussions.  It would probably be a surprise if we were all cool, all the time," she said.

"However, I can tell you that the family members take their work seriously and that the tone of the meeting was respectful and courteous in general."

Oland said her committee will meet four times a year and will release regular progress reports to the public. However, she said in order for their conversations to be frank, the exact details of committee meetings will be kept confidential.