Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Last week, we learned that the families of victims of the Portapique shooting are boycotting the public inquiry because the commissioners are refusing to allow the victims’ lawyers to cross-examine two RCMP officers who were on duty at the time of the tragedy. Those two officers were in charge of the operation to find the killer.

I would remind you that the public inquiry was established specifically to probe the police response and to inform the families, as required by the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. It is not right for these officers to be questioned remotely behind closed doors when they are key witnesses, and for the victims’ lawyers not to be able to question or cross-examine them.

The commission provided no reason for allowing in camera interviews or denying cross-examination. The order-in-council adopted by the government makes it a party to the inquiry, so it can’t use its independence as an excuse for not intervening.

Why isn’t Minister Mendicino stepping up to publicly denounce this injustice toward the victims’ families?

Senator Boisvenu: I would like to go back to a question I asked on May 5, 2022.

An interim report from the public inquiry mentioned that the victims’ families and the broader Portapique community have not received any mental health or financial support from the federal government.

Over the past two years, the federal government has done nothing to help victims’ families and the community deal with their post-traumatic stress. I’m sure you can imagine how the murders of 22 people would scar a community.

You didn’t answer my question, and I haven’t received any information from you about this. Will the Prime Minister honour the promise he made at the start of the public inquiry and support the victims and the community?