Re: Lionel Desmond Inquiry

by Rocko Wed 15 Sep 2021, 6:16 pm

Desmond inquiry: former soldier sought counselling the same day he killed his family

Published Wednesday, September 15, 2021

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/desmond-inquiry-former-soldier-sought-counselling-the-same-day-he-killed-his-family-1.5586625

by Whiskey Mon 01 Nov 2021, 4:39 pm

Desmond inquiry: forensic psychiatrist describes inadequate plans for former soldier

Published Nov. 1, 2021

Lionel Desmond Inquiry - Page 8 Lionel-desmond-1-3228330-1635783011478

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/desmond-inquiry-forensic-psychiatrist-describes-inadequate-plans-for-former-soldier-1.5646957

by Whiskey Tue 02 Nov 2021, 2:19 pm

Veteran who killed family, himself would have been criminally responsible, inquiry told

Lionel Desmond's PTSD did not prevent him from understanding his actions, psychiatrist testifies

Laura Fraser · CBC News · Posted: Nov 02, 2021

Lionel Desmond Inquiry - Page 8 Desmond-inquiry

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/desmond-inquiry-forensic-psychiatrist-1.6233884

by Caliber Wed 03 Nov 2021, 5:15 pm

Desmond inquiry: expert says red flags for domestic violence were ignored, overlooked

Published Nov. 3, 2021

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/desmond-inquiry-expert-says-red-flags-for-domestic-violence-were-ignored-overlooked-1.5650479

by Ranger Thu 04 Nov 2021, 4:42 pm

Desmond inquiry: health professionals failed to share information prior to killings

Published Nov. 4, 2021

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/desmond-inquiry-health-professionals-failed-to-share-information-prior-to-killings-1.5652366

by **Spider** Wed 29 Dec 2021, 9:36 am

Nova Scotia inquest into shooting tragedy facing complex challenges

By Michael MacDonald The Canadian Press
Posted December 29, 2021

Almost five years after Afghanistan war veteran Lionel Desmond killed three family members and himself, an inquiry is expected to draw to a close next month in Nova Scotia with questions still lingering about what it can accomplish.

Before the provincial fatality inquiry was approved by the province on Dec. 28, 2017, Nova Scotia’s chief medical examiner, Matt Bowes, told then-justice minister Mark Furey it wasn’t a good idea.

“Many of the issues surrounding these fatalities are within the sole jurisdiction of the federal government or are interconnected with areas of provincial jurisdiction,” Bowes told Furey in a Dec. 1, 2017, letter submitted as evidence at the inquiry.

“A (provincial) inquiry cannot make recommendations about matters under federal jurisdiction.”

At the time, Bowes recommended a joint federal-provincial inquiry, saying Ottawa’s stated willingness to co-operate with a provincial inquiry could prove to be an empty promise. A Nova Scotia government spokeswoman later confirmed Furey had requested a joint inquiry but was turned down by Ottawa.

That left Bowes with little choice but to call for a provincial inquiry and hope for the best.

Among other things, the provincial inquiry has investigated the circumstances leading to killings in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S., on Jan. 3, 2017. On that day, Desmond entered his family’s home dressed in camouflaged clothing and shot his wife, Shanna, 31, their 10-year-daughter, Aaliyah, and his 52-year-old mother, Brenda, before turning the gun on himself.

The 33-year-old retired infantryman had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2011 after completing a particularly violent tour in Afghanistan in 2007. He had also been diagnosed with major depression, and later tests indicated he may have had a traumatic brain injury.

Immediately after the triple murder-suicide, friends and family said Desmond did not get the help he needed from two federal entities — the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada — as he tried to transition to civilian life in 2015-16.

On the first day of the inquiry’s public hearings on Jan. 27, 2020, Bowes testified he was still worried about the limited scope of the inquiry and its “potentially limited role” in getting information from Ottawa. Six months later, with the inquiry on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then-Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil said the inquiry was flawed because “it does not have the federal government there as an equal partner.”

But as the inquiry pressed on, something remarkable happened.

Every federal witness asked to testify did so. And every federal document sought by inquiry counsel was turned over without protest, except one — and even that report from Veterans Affairs was eventually scrutinized and made public.

Allen Murray, lead counsel for the inquiry, says the inquiry had the power to subpoena witnesses and order the release of documents, but that never happened.

“The federal government has been very forthcoming,” Murray said in a recent interview. “We learned a lot about (Desmond’s) interaction with federal entities.”

In all, the inquiry heard testimony from 70 witnesses during 45 days of hearings that were sidetracked by the pandemic for almost a year.

Aside from investigating the circumstances of the four deaths and Desmond’s interactions with provincial health and firearms officials, the inquiry was tasked with determining whether he had access to mental health and domestic violence services. The inquiry also investigated whether health-care and social services providers were trained to recognize the symptoms of domestic violence.

To be sure, the inquiry can’t make any recommendations for change within areas of exclusive federal jurisdiction, which include the policies and procedures of the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs and the RCMP. Still, Murray said the inquiry will have some degree of latitude when it comes to dealing with the federal government’s role in the tragedy.

Some of the inquiry’s terms of reference speak to the interaction between the two levels of government, including provincial administration of the federal firearms program and provincial access to federal health records.

“The two levels of government are not watertight compartments,” Murray said. “They interact.”

That interaction is at the heart of the inquiry.

The man presiding over the hearings, provincial court Judge Warren Zimmer, has on several occasions cited testimony indicating Desmond “fell through the cracks” after he left a treatment program for veterans at a Montreal hospital in August 2016 and returned home to Nova Scotia.

The inquiry has heard that during the next four months, a case manager from Veterans Affairs, Marie-Paule Doucette, was responsible for helping Desmond find provincial mental health services to help him cope. But that process was beset by delays and bureaucratic snafus, leaving Desmond with no actual therapeutic treatment as his mental health declined.

During that crucial period, Desmond sought help from two local hospitals in eastern Nova Scotia, but the doctors he met were unable to get his federal health records, which clearly spelled out just how ill he was.

Lawyer Adam Rodgers, who represents Desmond’s estate, said this key finding should result in recommendations for change, despite the inquiry’s jurisdictional limitations.

“With joint federal-provincial issues, like ensuring the transfer of medical records from the military to the provincial health authority, we can stay within provincial jurisdiction by recommending the health authority work with the military to develop a protocol for transfers,” he said in a recent email.

And even if the inner workings of Veterans Affairs and the other federal entities are off limits to the inquiry’s final recommendations, there’s nothing stopping Zimmer from making observations about what he learned from the hearings, Rodgers said.

“For more purely federal issues, like what appear to be unreasonably bureaucratic constraints placed on Veterans Affairs case managers, we may not be able to frame them as recommendations,” he said.

“But we definitely need to talk about Veterans Affairs. In his final report, Judge Zimmer is entitled to make comments on these factors, and perhaps note them as contributing factors in this tragedy.”

The inquiry has been adjourned until Jan. 10, when time has been set aside to hear from other witnesses, but it’s not clear if that will happen. Final submissions from the participating lawyers are expected in late January or early February.

Global News

by **Victor** Mon 21 Mar 2022, 9:16 pm

Lionel Desmond inquiry focuses on police initiatives around intimate partner violence

Published March 21, 2022

CTV News

by RevForce Wed 23 Mar 2022, 7:27 pm

As the Desmond inquiry hears from its last witness, the judge hints at changes to come

CBC News · Posted: Mar 22, 2022

Lionel Desmond Inquiry - Page 8 Lionel-desmond

CBC News

by **Warrior** Mon 28 Mar 2022, 7:35 pm

The system failed Lionel Desmond and his family. These changes may prevent another tragedy

Laura Fraser · CBC News · Posted: Mar 28, 2022

CBC News

by **Luxray** Tue 19 Apr 2022, 4:13 pm

Lionel Desmond fatality inquiry: federal lawyer defends role of Veterans Affairs

Apr 19, 2022

PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. — A Nova Scotia inquiry investigating why a former Afghanistan war veteran killed his family and himself in 2017 heard Tuesday from a federal lawyer who defended the work of Veterans Affairs Canada.

Lori Ward told the inquiry it would be easy to blame the federal department for the deaths of Lionel Desmond and three family members, saying an unfair narrative has emerged about an uncaring bureaucracy.

Ward submitted a long list of examples showing how Desmond’s case manager at Veterans Affairs went out of her way to help her client make a smooth transition to civilian life in 2015 and 2016.

Desmond served in Afghanistan as an infantryman in 2007 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2011 before he was medically released from the army in July 2015.

The inquiry has heard Desmond was a desperately ill man whose marriage was in trouble when he left a Montreal-based residential treatment program in August 2016 and returned home to eastern Nova Scotia.

A Nova Scotia psychiatrist who accepted Desmond as a patient in 2016 has told the inquiry that the former soldier appeared to be falling through the cracks in the health-care system as he struggled to find help for his worsening mental state. The inquiry also heard that Desmond did not receive any therapeutic treatment during the last four months of his life.

Inquiry lead counsel Allen Murray told the hearings on Tuesday that Desmond had fallen into a “treatment void.”

On Jan. 3, 2017, Desmond legally bought a semi-automatic rifle and later that day used it to fatally shoot his wife, Shanna; their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah; and his mother, Brenda, before turning the gun on himself in the family’s rural home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S.

Lawyers involved in the provincial fatality inquiry started their closing submissions Tuesday. More submissions are expected Wednesday.

The man leading the inquiry, provincial court Judge Warren K. Zimmer, is expected to produce a final report with findings and recommendations this fall.

The inquiry started its work in May 2019, and public hearings began in January 2020, but there were a number of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, 69 witnesses testified under oath during 53 days of hearings in Guysborough, N.S., and later in Port Hawkesbury, N.S.

The inquiry’s mandate includes determining whether Desmond and his family had access to appropriate mental health and domestic violence intervention services. As well, the inquiry has examined the Canadian Firearms Program, provincial access to federal health records and whether health-care and social services providers were trained to recognize the symptoms of domestic violence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2022.

National Post

by **Navigator** Wed 20 Apr 2022, 7:33 pm

Systemic failures and racism: Hearings for Desmond inquiry conclude in Nova Scotia

The Canadian Press · Posted: Apr 20, 2022

Lionel Desmond Inquiry - Page 8 Lionel-desmond-with-mother-daughter

Lionel Desmond is shown here in this family photo, with his mother, Brenda, left, and daughter, Aaliyah, right. (Submitted by Cassandra Desmond)

The Canadian Press

by JAFO Fri 22 Apr 2022, 11:05 am

When is VAC and DND going to learn that when you are finished breaking men and women you just can't DUMP them and their injuries on a provincial health care system WITHOUT letting said provincial health care systems know what is broken?!?

This secrecy act BS has to stop! All VAC had to do was give Nova Scotia Desmond's file and his family might have had a chance.

When VAC uses the excuse of confidentiality of a members health records as an excuse to cover their INCOMPETENCY in helping a broken veteran this is going to happen again.