HALIFAX - Officials from the Wagmatcook First Nation in Cape Breton will meet Thursday with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP over the fatal shooting of John Simon.
The band has been pushing for a public inquiry into the Dec. 2, 2008, death of Simon, who was shot in his home on the reserve by an RCMP officer.
An investigation into the shooting by Halifax Regional Police cleared Const. Jeremy Frenette of any wrongdoing while acknowledging the officer ignored an order from a superior to not enter Simon's home.
Frenette ended up shooting the allegedly suicidal and intoxicated man three times, though Halifax police concluded he did so in self-defence.
The RCMP complaints commission has launched an investigation into the shooting and the national force's handling of the incident.
The Wagmatcook band, in a submission to the complaints commission in March, called Simon's shooting "absolutely preventable."
"His death was caused by mistakes committed by an RCMP officer, apparently compounded or facilitated by a deeply flawed command and control structure," the submission read.
The band contends there are numerous unanswered questions about the killing, including why Frenette felt "free to approach and provoke an obviously distraught John Simon."
