MCC Day 58 – NS RCMP Commanding Officer Lee Bergerman

After a three-week summer break, the Mass Casualty Commission resumed proceedings today, with testimony from retired Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman. Asst. Comm. Bergerman was the head of the RCMP in Nova Scotia at the time of the events of the mass casualty. She retired from the RCMP just before the MCC proceedings were set to start last October. The timing of Asst. Comm. Bergerman’s retirement naturally raised suspicions. Leaving an organization just before a major review of that organization’s performance is the opposite of leadership, like a head coach quitting before the playoffs. It may ultimately benefit the team, but does the coach no credit. The MCC lawyer only examined Asst. Comm. Bergerman, the head of the RCMP in Nova Scotia in April 2020, for two hours. She was not asked, in her direct evidence, about her role in the press conferences after the events, her awareness of any operational details during the events, or the RCMP’s failure to issue an emergency alert. Viewing news reports from this morning (from reporters who have been given access to Asst. Comm. Bergerman’s statement transcript) it seems that those topics were covered in her interview with the MCC. In cross examination, Asst. Comm. Bergerman was asked whether she has been following the MCC proceedings. She says she has not been, and cited poor internet service wherever she has been spending her time, which she says was somewhere out of the country. She also refused to answer questions about operational command leadership decisions, saying that she did not review the file materials in the aftermath of the shootings. All of this is very unsatisfactory for the families, and, I suspect, the public. Here is the Commanding Officer for the police force under scrutiny of a public inquiry, and she has diligently avoided learning anything detailed about the events under review.