Finances played role in carbine rollout: witness at RCMP labour code trial

Stuart told Judge Leslie Jackson that senior management wanted to add financial components to the risk assessment.

He said he attempted to stress that the assessment should not include “the influence of finances,” but he said the top brass did not see it that way.

“I understand finance plays a piece of it, but to me, don’t meld it together,” Stuart, a carbine instructor, said during his second full day of testimony.

He said some detachments could afford to purchase the carbines immediately, but others would need more time.

On Tuesday, Stuart told the judge-alone trial that he wanted the new firearms to be distributed to every detachment in a national rollout.

The RCMP purchased 375 carbines in its first order for $2 million because that amount did not require a request to the federal Treasury Board, he said.

Later Wednesday, defence attorney Ian Carter asked about RCMP’s process in adopting carbines for front-line officers.

Under cross-examination, Stuart said the carbine purchasing, training and rollout was a highly complicated process with many people involved, and one that was not to be rushed.

He conceded that funding was an important component of that process, but he said the financial terms should have been dealt with separately from the risk assessment.

Stuart, who first wrote a briefing note in 2006 recommending the force look at carbines, agreed when asked if he had attempted to ensure carbines were adopted in timely way, while also making sure the process was done appropriately.

Crown prosecutor Paul Adams has said the majority of the officers in Moncton who responded to the active-shooter call on June 4, 2014 lacked full training.

In his opening comments earlier this week, he said some of the fatalities could have been avoided had the force complied with labour laws.

Alphonse MacNeil, a retired assistant commissioner with the RCMP, issued a 2015 report on the Moncton shootings that concluded carbines could have made a difference in that incident and they should be rolled out faster.

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Aly Thomson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Finances played role in carbine rollout: witness at RCMP labour code trial

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