RCMP not fully prepared for active shooters five years after Moncton: auditor

By The Canadian Press, Cormac MacSweeney

OTTAWA — Canada’s auditor general says the RCMP isn’t sure that all officers have access to the rifles and body armour needed to respond to an active shooter, almost five years after three Mounties were gunned down in New Brunswick.

In a report today, interim auditor Sylvain Ricard says the national police force has mismanaged the purchase, distribution and ongoing maintenance of semi-automatic rifles known as carbines.

In June 2014, a heavily armed assailant in Moncton, N.B., killed three Mounties and wounded two others.

The RCMP was convicted under the Canada Labour Code of failing to provide members with the appropriate training and equipment to deal with the deadly event.

The auditor general says the police force then bought thousands of carbines, but did not know whether it had provided the rifles to all of the officers who needed them.

The auditor also found the RCMP had enough hard body armour nationwide, but not all officers had access to it.

Meantime, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the government accepts all the recommendations in the auditor general’s report, and adds action is already being taken.

“Carbine and Immediate Action Rapid Deployment training must now be completed by all cadets prior to their leaving the depot training academy.”

Goodale notes officer safety is a top priority.

 

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