WAGMATCOOK, N.S. — Legal counsel for the Wagmatcook First Nation has told the band council a copy of the Halifax police report it expects to receive into the shooting death of John Simon will have sections blacked out.
The band council says it hadn’t received the report on Friday, but the band still intends to meet with the Justice Minister Ross Landry on Tuesday.
“We’re hoping to see it (the report) before then, but you never know,” Brian Arbuthnot, senior adviser to the Wagmatcook band, said on Friday.
He said the band’s legal counsel has confirmed the report was sent by the RCMP, but portions have been blacked out. It’s expected to arrive in Wagmatcook this week.
The band is meeting Landry in Wagmatcook on Tuesday to discuss the band’s call for a public inquiry into Simon’s death and to discuss policing options.
Simon, 44, who was a fisherman, was shot in his home by an RCMP officer Dec. 2, 2008.
Police have said he was drunk and potentially suicidal. He was shot three times.
A Halifax police investigation into the shooting cleared the RCMP officer, saying he shot Simon in self-defence.
The band council and Simon’s family received a briefing on the report in December, but RCMP wouldn’t release the report, citing privacy concerns.
Simon’s widow, Patsy MacKay, has also asked for a copy of the report.
