MONCTON, N.B. -- Arming front line officers with carbine rifles was a "high priority" for senior Mounties three years before a shooting rampage in Moncton, N.B., an RCMP deputy commissioner testified Tuesday at the national police force's Labour Code trial.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brosseau said he worked on the project for about a year beginning in January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the time.
Brosseau said he made several presentations about the progress of the carbine program to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and said it was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers was a high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for me and for the rest of the directorate... and needed to move forward with haste," the defence witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton provincial court.
The RCMP is accused of failing to provide members and supervisors with the appropriate information, instruction, equipment and training in an active-shooter event.
Carbine rifles were not available to front line officers during Justin Bourque's shooting rampage on June 4, 2014, and Crown witnesses have testified the high-powered weapons could have made a difference in the tragedy that killed three Mounties and wounded two others.
Carbines have a greater range and accuracy than the officers' pistols, the trial has heard.
Brosseau said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen, how they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
"Underlying it all, frankly, was the need to ensure and maximize officer and public safety," said Brosseau.
The C8 carbine was approved in September 2011.
Under cross examination, Crown prosecutor Paul Adams noted the carbine program was about addressing an identified gap in the firearms capabilities of front line Mounties -- and Brosseau agreed.
He then asked Brosseau: "Would you admit that responding members and supervisors were not appropriately equipped and trained to respond to the active shooter event incident on June 4, 2014?"
"I can't admit that," Brosseau said.
Adams grilled Brosseau on that point, saying the witness had told the senior executive committee that carbines were needed for front line officers to deal with those types of situations.
"Are you suggesting, nonetheless, they were properly equipped and trained?" said Adams of the Mounties who faced Bourque, noting they did not have carbines.
Brosseau paused and replied: "I can't admit that they weren't. It was a horrible tragedy, no doubt. I don't know that additional training or having a patrol carbine that day would have made a difference."
Adams then said: "No, you're not going to admit to anything, because admitting to that would be an admission of guilt."
Brosseau, who has a master's degree in law from Harvard University, conceded under cross examination that he has had conversations with the RCMP's lawyers about the force's Labour Code trial and was briefed on the evidence presented thus far before taking the stand Tuesday.
Supt. Troy Lightfoot, who Brosseau said he worked with on the carbine project in 2011, testified earlier in the trial that he first warned superiors about the lack of firepower for front line officers in a briefing note in 2006.
The note recommended looking at carbines for Mounties, and Lightfoot was told his team should continue researching the issue, he testified last month.
But Lightfoot said the RCMP then became focused on the public backlash stemming from the 2007 Tasering death of Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver, and he expressed concerns about the lack of resources being put towards progressing the carbine file.
Constables Fabrice Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche were killed, while constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque targeted police officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion.
Bourque was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
