Statement from Minister Mendicino marking three years since the mass shooting in Nova Scotia 

Ottawa, Ontario – April 18, 2023

Today, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, issued the following statement:

“Three years ago today, the lives of countless Nova Scotians were forever changed in the worst mass shooting in our country’s history.

Today, we remember those we lost. It’s been almost three years since Tom Bagley, Kristen and baby Beaton, Jamie Blair, Greg Blair, Joy Bond and Peter Bond, Lillian Campbell Hyslop, Corrie Ellison, Gina Goulet, Lisa McCully, Dawn Madsen, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins, Heather O'Brien, Jolene Oliver, Emily Tuck, Aaron Tuck, Cst. Heidi Stevenson, Joey Webber, Elizabeth Joanne Thomas, John Joseph Zahl were taken from us. We remember them.

Today, we honour all who continue to suffer. There are 22 chairs at dinner tables around Nova Scotia – in Portapique, Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie and many other towns – that will never again be filled. There are family and friends whose lives were forever shattered. And there are many who were injured physically and mentally, including Cst. Chad Morrison. We honour them.

Today, we mourn together. While three years may have passed, wounds remain raw. Some may never fully heal. That is why we must continue support the families of the victims. We also keep in our thoughts the members of RCMP H Division, who responded to the tragedy while losing a friend and colleague. In such a tight-knit province, few families were unaffected. We mourn with them.

The passage of time has not made this horrific tragedy any easier to comprehend or accept. Yet the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission now offers a roadmap to making the reforms necessary to the RCMP.

Our government is acting swiftly – guided by the MCC’s final report – to strengthen RCMP oversight, toughen our gun laws and address gender-based violence.

We must do everything in our power to learn from this tragedy and do our utmost to ensure it never happens again.

Today, all of Canada grieves with Nova Scotia.”