Nova Scotia government says judge dismissed from inquiry had rejected offer for help

The Nova Scotia government says a judge dismissed from leading a high-profile inquiry had rejected an offer for help, even though he had asked for four extensions to allow him to complete his final report.

The office of the province's attorney general issued a statement Tuesday saying the now-retired provincial court judge, Warren Zimmer, was not given a fourth extension because the government had no reason to expect that agreeing to that request would yield a report.

As well, department spokesperson Peter McLaughlin said that when Zimmer first asked for an extension after the inquiry's hearings concluded in April 2022, the provincial court judge promised to deliver the report in September 2022.

"There have been three extensions and no report has been issued," McLaughlin said in the statement. "Judge Zimmer was also offered additional resources to support him, which were declined."

Zimmer was appointed in July 2018 to lead a provincial fatality inquiry that investigated why Afghanistan war veteran Lionel Desmond killed three family members and himself in their rural Nova Scotia home in January 2017. The inquiry faced several delays, including an 11-month adjournment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zimmer did not respond to a request for an interview.

McLaughlin said the government could not impose a deadline on Zimmer because of the independence of the judiciary and, by extension, the fatality inquiry. The province's Fatalities Inquiries Act, however, permits the appointment of a new judge when an inquiry judge retires. That's what happened on June 30 when the government decided against extending Zimmer's term on the bench.

"Our only focus is to provide the families and all Nova Scotians with the answers they deserve as quickly as possible," McLaughlin said.

Last week, Premier Tim Houston said his government decided to replace the judge because his report was taking too long to complete.

On Monday, the chief judge of the provincial court, Pamela Williams, announced she had appointed provincial court Judge Paul Scovil to take over responsibility for the inquiry.

"Government did not make this decision lightly," McLaughlin said. "The [Desmond]family and all Nova Scotians have been waiting far too long for answers."

Two days after Houston's comments, Zimmer wrote to inquiry lawyers saying he had told the government he planned to hand in his report in August, and he said the decision to dismiss him was based on misinformation and ignorance.

Letter from the judge

"Suggesting that I have delayed the inquiry process, including the filing of a report, is offensive," Zimmer wrote in the letter, obtained by The Canadian Press. "It displays the minister's ignorance of the complexity of the process that this fatality inquiry report is not a news article to be read on the radio."

In the letter, Zimmer said he had already written 200 pages of the final report. He also pointed to the large volume of material he had to review. The inquiry heard from 70 witnesses during 56 days of hearings, which generated 10,447 pages of transcripts.

"The period of time from the date of counsel's final submissions in late April 2022 until June 30, 2023, is approximately 14 months," Zimmer's letter says. "The aforementioned volume of material before the Inquiry is enormous and cannot be abbreviated simply because the minister is of the view that it should be an easy task to complete."

Liberal Opposition Leader Zach Churchill has called for an investigation into how the government dealt with Zimmer, suggesting there may have been interference with an independent judicial body.

NDP critic Suzy Hansen said Attorney General Brad Johns should have allowed Zimmer to finish his work, given the fact the government had been told the report would be completed in about a month.