RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather testifies at the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission hearings on July 27, 2022 (Photo: NS Mass Casualty Commission webcast)

RCMP communication in the hours and days after the Nova Scotia Mass Shooting was a major topic at the Mass Casualty Commission hearings yesterday.

Chief Supt. Chris Leather was questioned on the language used in initial tweets shortly after the shootings in Portapique and surrounding areas.

Leather was asked if the term ‘firearms complaint’ was an appropriate term to use.

“I think it’s not, in hindsight, the way we would have described the events, obviously. So it’s not of the highest quality,” said Leather.

He said it wasn’t consistent with what they were dealing with.

Leather was also asked about his news conference on the evening of April 19, 2020, and his statement that ‘in excess of 10 people’ had died.

He says he was receiving inconsistencies on the death toll, and didn’t want to exaggerate the total.