Thread by @Tim_Bousquet

Cst. Greg Wiley's testimony before the Mass Casualty Commission will NOT be broadcast, and only those registered can watch the webcast. However, I WILL be live-tweeting his testimony, which is scheduled to begin in 10 minutes. You can avoid this threat by muting the hashtag #MCC

https://twitter.com/Tim_Bousquet/status/1567148537330208768

Both @skimber and I wrote about the #MCC's decision to grant Wiley special accommodations. Here's Kimber: halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house…

And here's me: halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/the-b…

Commissioner Michael MacDonald explains the decision to grant Wiley the accommodation. MacDonald says the audio or video of Wiley's testimony cannot be shared, and if someone does share it, they can be criminally charged. #MCC

Wiley is on, being questioned by #MCC lawyer Jamie Van Wart. Wiley looks healthy, and speaks clearly.

Wiley is swearing on a bible that is literally bigger than my collected works of Shakespeare #MCC

Wiley has already give 2 statements, one on April 25, 2020 to an RCMP investigator from Ontario: masscasualtycommission.ca/files/fd-sourc… and a second in June 2021 to the #MCC: masscasualtycommission.ca/files/fd-sourc…

Wiley says that he was in Parrsboro from 2011 to 2015, be generally did not respond to Portapique; Bible Hill responded to Portapique #MCC

Van Wart reads this part from Wiley's interview with the #MCC, and the instructions he got from his sergeant:

Wiley says Bible Hill has to cover 3,600 square kilometres, and so on a busy day, an officer covers just 10-15 calls a day. They've got to prioritize. #MCC

Van Wart gives a timeline: Wiley met GW in 2007/08 when GW called police about someone stealing tools from him. He had contact up until about 2011. But in 2017, Wiley was taking a piss out in the woods, and GW happened to ride up on an ATV. #MCC

Wiley: after 2011, "I didn't have meaningful interaction with that guy" #MCC

Wiley: every time I met him in Portapique, I was in uniform and on the clock #MCC

Wiley doesn't know the exact number of times he met GW in Portapique, but guesses it was 15 or 16 times. "It was incidental that I even got to know him" #MCC

Incidentally, there's some evidence that GW stole his own tools as part of an insurance scheme #MCC

However: Wily: GW called me and gave me the name of the suspect, and that's the guy who did it. "He seemed like a good person to have as a community contact... levelheaded, articulate, mannerly, seemed pro-police." I know people think that's nuts #MCC

Wiley: The other context that people need to know, is that sometimes I'd pull up and GW was too busy working on a project, and he didn't have time for me. #MCC

Wiley: so some of those visits were quite short. Longest was 30-45 minutes. "He wasn't a personal friend of mine" #MCC

Van Wart: how many community contacts did you have while you were at Bible Hill? Wiley: it's always someone who is pro-police, someone you can ask, 'how are things going, what's going on?' They're not an official source, just "advice". I had 5 others from Bible Hill to 5 Islands

Van Wart reads this:

Continuing #MCC

And #MCC

Van Wart: do you remember this request that you talk to GW about weapons? Wiley, no, not "at all." "I'm not going to call the guy [Poirier] a liar, but I don't have any recollection" #MCC

Wiley: Poirier works in the city, where's it's easy to do a door lock. Out in the sticks, "the thing that people need to understand" is that GW only went to Portapique on weekends, and I only worked weekends once a month. To travel to Portapique was 25 minutes #MCC

Wiley: "so the starts needed to align", that I was working, the weather, the call volume. When I did stop by there, it was when I had a call nearby and I had time #MCC

Wiley: "if the perpetrator is there, too bad, too sad." #MCC

Wiley: if I did talk to him about guns, I wouldn't say, "hey, do you have guns?" I would have said, "hey, we have a report that there's a bear running around here, and we want to know if people have a shotgun" #MCC

Van Wart: here's what Lisa Banfield said #MCC

From Banfield's statement #MCC

Van Wart: so? Wiley: I don't remember any of that. She provides a lot of detail, and she says he showed me a pellet gun. Maybe "my memory has slipped" and I was there for Poirier. Or, it was just coincidental that we were talking about firearms #MCC

Wiley: If this is a memory slip, maybe I left a voicemail message for Poirier and he didn't get it #MCC

Wiley: "People need to understand," I didn't have a right to search. I didn't have a search warrant, and if I did, we'd have a whole team going there. "To the best of my recollection, I was never specifically tasked to investigate" GW #MCC

Van Wart: I know you don't remember, but would you respond to Poirier's request alone? Wiley: I'm hung up on Poirier calling me a friend of GW's. I was on friendly terms with him, but I wasn't a friend. I only went there in uniform, on duty #MCC

Wiley: since I don't remember this, I don't think Poirier's request rose to the level that they had direct knowledge that he had firearms. #MCC

Van Wart: Truro police had a tip that GW wanted to kill a cop #MCC

Van Wart: do you remember this bulletin? Wiley: No. #MCC

Van Wart shows Wiley this document #MCC

More:

Wiley: I don't remember this, but not only that, I don't remember even working with someone named Cst. MacMinn #MCC

Van Wart: you didn't see the bulletin, but did you know about it? Wiley: I remember an email. Maybe I was working in Parrsboro then. I "had knowledge" about a disagreement he had with a family member about property #MCC

Wiley: these things happen all the time, people arguing with family over property. It's happened in my own family. I just advise people to get a lawyer. "I remember him [GW] not getting off-track about that..." there was no anger, he wasn't "amped up" #MCC

Wiley: GW never changed his attitude towards me. #MCC

Van Wart: I'm going to ask you about Susan Butlin. #MCC

I wrote about this here: halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/in-th…

Van Wart: do you remember this?
Wiley: "quite clearly." No one has asked me to provide a statement. People are trying to "cross-pollenate" Butlin and GW, so I want people to understand #MCC

Wiley: it was a weekend, I was in Bible Hill, and went to College Street, bottom of the hill, and I called Butlin. She said she was being harassed by Duggan. She said he was up on charges of sexual assault, "that got my attention"... I asked her, "he's been charged?" #MCC

Wiley: she said yes. I asked if he was released, and she said yes. I told her someone should've contacted her with his conditions. I asked when it would go to court next. She said the peace bond issue is in a few days... "I was very confused" #MCC

Wiley: "there was no way the perpetrator had been charged with sexual chart." She was basically asking for a restraining order. So I asked why she called. She said she got these text messages, and she read them to me... #MCC

Wiley: there were no threats in them. She hadn't told him not to communicate with her, so it wasn't harassing communications (under the law), so I told her she should send him a message that she didn't want to have any further messages, and if he did, she'd notify the police #MCC

Wiley: I said, you know him and the circumstances, I don't. I offered to call him and explain that he couldn't communicate with him. She said it would only make matters worse. #MCC

Wiley: I did say that just because we didn't respond the way she wanted, she could call the police "between now and next Wednesday" #MCC

Wiley: I asked her if she had any reason to be concerned about her safety, "and she answered me a clear 'no.'" #MCC

Wiley: I have a clear memory of this conversation because the night she was killed, I realized it was Butlin, and she was killed by Duggan, and that was the last shift before my vacation... [Wiley cries] I ran that conversation through my head #MCC

Wiley: I'm sorry for her loss. And Portapique. "I'm fulfilling that by giving my testimony, and to be full frank and fair" about my involvement. I hope the victims "get clarity" #MCC

Van Wart: did you know Junior Duggan before Butlin called you? Wiley: No. #MCC

Van Wart is finished with his questioning. The lawyers for the victims families will meet to decide on their cross-examination questions. So we're on break until 3pm. #MCC

Some comments. Again, Wiley appears to be physically healthy, and there aren't any obvious signs of problems with his emotional or mental health (not that I even pretend to know about this stuff; I realize I could be missing something)... #MCC

He answers questions more or less directly (some tangents, as we all do, but not too far off course), in a clear, strong voice #MCC

Wiley appears to be in his late 50s or early 60s. He is well dressed, with a pressed shirt and tie. There's someone off camera assisting him with the tech side, but otherwise he needs no assistance for the Q and A. #MCC

Which is to say, there's no obvious reason why he needs this accommodation, and so far anyway, I don't see why the wider world can't see and hear this themselves. #MCC

An aside: hopefully, I make these livetweets look easy, but they're NOT. I spend a lot of time pulling up the documents and reviewing them ahead of time, then madly take screenshots as we proceed...

Just the volume of documents has been exhausting, and then there's the day-in, day-out following of the proceedings, and the live-tweeting is a sort of workout itself.

Obviously, I say this because I want you to give the Examiner money. The entire operation, including these live-tweet threads, but everything else the Examiner does, is dependent on your money. You can make a one-time donation to the cause here: halifaxexaminer.ca/donate/

Or, you can be a monthly subscriber, here: halifaxexaminer.ca/subscription-a…

I very much appreciate your support!

Proceedings should re-start in about 5 minutes.

Obviously, the break is taking longer than expected. #MCC

We're back. #MCC

Grace MacCormack with Patterson Law starts. MacCormack: so GW wasn't your friend, eh?
Wiley: "I'm statin categorically that he was not my friend"
#MCC

MacCormack: what did you talk about?
Wiley: I was impressed with his dock along the river. I came from a farm family, and I was impressed with the engineering of it. His woodwork, like that
#MCC

Wiley: and at some point I would say, "is there anything going on in the neighbourhood I should know about?" but he never had anything
#MCC

MacCormack: did you talk about the geography of Portapique? Wiley: no. He had big drop off behind the cottage down to the river. Portapique is pretty flat, otherwise.
#MCC

MacCormack: talk about blueberry field road?
Wiley: I've been down to the end of Portapique Beach Road, but I never knew about blueberry field road.
#MCC

Wiley: I used to live in the area, and I'm a country boy, so even on my time off, I'd put my dogs in the back of the trucks and drive around a lot. I probably knew the roads better than any of the other cops. #MCC

MacCormack: when were you driving around a bunch? Wiley: my first year, I'd spend two days a week driving around.
MacCormack: yeah, sure, but what years?
Wiley: I arrived in 2006, and then up to 2011, when I left.
#MCC

MacCormack: you don't remember the weapons complaint about when he threatened his parents?
Wiley: No, but he told me that he was having a dispute about property with a family member
#MCC

MacCormack: You never reported back to Halifax police about whether he had weapons?
Wiley: I don't remember anything at all about it. I think Poirier is off on this, because he said I was GW's "friend." I wasn't
#MCC

Wiley: that whole thing with Lisa Banfield must've been "coincidental." #MCC

MacCormack: You never saw the Halifax police file?
Wiley: nope, not until the last week.
#MCC

MacCormack: about that bulletin, that said GW had guns and wanted to kill a cop.
Wiley: I don't remember ever seeing it. But I got an email about a threat related to something in New Brunswick
#MCC

Now a discussion about Wiley running into GW at a Canadian Tire parking lot in Lower Truro. Wiley was wearing plains clothes, and approached GW. #MCC

MacCormack asks Wiley about this. Wiley says he agrees with himself. #MCC

Wiley: people say a lot of shit on social media, and if we had to follow up on that, we'd need a lot more cops.
Once, I got a mischief call because his neighbour mowed his grass one inch on the other side. Buddy pulled out survey maps, even.
#MCC

MacCormack: what about this? Shouldn't you investigate all threat calls?
Wiley: I wasn't assigned to it.
#MCC

MacCormack asks about his training re sexual assault calls.
#MCC

Wiley is now working in the RCMP's Toronto Airport Detachment. Maybe there's some reason the #MCC agreed to put his photo out there in relation to that job, but it seems a stretch.

Now up, Tara Miller, who represents the family of Kristen Beaton. Miller: you don't have any notes about the 2010 or 2011 weapons complaint... when is the first time you looked for those notes? Wiley: after my interview with the #MCC in June 2021

Miller: no one asked you if you had notes before then?
Wiley: No.
#MCC

Miller: So, you looked for your NS notes when you lived in Ontario. Where were they? Wiley: in my residence. Miller: did you look for all the years you interacted with GW? Wiley: just for the 2010 complaint
#MCC

Miller: You said today this whole thing about a conversation with Susie Butlin, but none of that is in your notes.
Wiley: well, I only put in stuff related to charges.
Miller: I see
#MCC

Miller: when you were out taking a leak and ran into GW on a trail, where was that?
Wiley: between Five Houses and Portapique, a 2-track trail.
#MCC

Wiley: you don't wanna be that RCMP officer on YouTube taking a piss
#MCC

Miller: you ever see GW drinking?
Wiley: No.
Miller: you talk about his job?
Wiley: I just thought he was a dentist.
Miller: did you or your family receive his dental services?
Wiley: No.
#MCC

Miller: you keep calling GW "pro-police." What do you mean?
Wiley: he gave me the name of the suspect who stole his tools. That showed me he was someone who could get info. And he said when he was pleased with the investigation, that showed me he was pro-police. MORE

Wiley: He was polite, well-spoken. "I know that people don't want to hear this, but it is what it is. That was my perception."
Miller: what about police stuff?
Wiley: he never expressed any interest in my police gear.
#MCC

Wiley: He was polite, well-spoken. "I know that people don't want to hear this, but it is what it is. That was my perception."
Miller: what about police stuff?
Wiley: he never expressed any interest in my police gear.
#MCC

Wiley: I don't know when he got involved in all that stuff, but I never saw anything related to police in his house. No vehicles, no photos, etc.
#MCC

Miller: there's a spectrum of threat, no? A guy mowing an inch over the property line isn't a death threat.
Wiley: I never heard about a death threat. I just knew about a property dispute. "I was never officially tasked in any investigation of the perpetrator, ever"
#MCC

Miller: but Poirier called you.
Wiley: if it sounded like a real threat, I would've done something.
Miller: but if you got a request from another police agency... how would you be officially tasked? Would it have to come from your bosses, or would Poirier be enough?
#MCC

Wiley: I don't know. If Banfield said is correct, it is nothing much, and I would've just called and left a voice mail or whatever. Poirier is "off-base... but I'm not going to throw the guy under the bus"
#MCC

Miller: you're not answering the question. I'll try again. If you get a call from another agency, do you need official direction from the RCMP, or would you just take it and run with it?
Wiley: it depends.
#MCC

Wiley: "It's hard for me to speak to a hypothetical"
#MCC

Wiley: "bearing in my mind, all of this happened in 2010, and the tragedy happened in 2020"
Miller: I understand
#MCC

Miller reads from Poirier's hand-written notes.
Wiley: [smirks]
Wiley: it's interesting that you worked that in there, that I was his friend.
Commissioner MacDonald: She's reading from Poirier's notes
#MCC

[more back and forth]
MacDonald: answer the question
Miller: would you have done this on your own?
Wiley: I might've
#MCC

Miller: You ever ask GW's neighbours about firearms or gunfire?
Wiley: no, but if Banfield is right, I spoke directly with him about it.
#MCC

Now up, Linda Hupman, representing the Tuck family, and the Campbell family.
Humpan: there was an entire report about the Susie Butler matter...
#MCC

Hupman: the report says there was no statement taken from Butlin, didn't look at the texts.
Wiley: that's right, "I did not do those things"
#MCC

Now the commissioners have questions.
Leanne Fitch: Maybe you're confusing the weapons complaint after the death threat to the bulletin about GW wanting to kill a cop.
Wiley: I never saw the bulletin
#MCC

Wiley: "nobody wishes I could remember my conversation with Poirier more than me," but shouldn't his higher ups have contacted my higher ups, if it was perceived as that big of a threat?
#MCC

Wiley: in Poirier's notes, there's not enough there for a warrant, by a long shot.
Fitch: but to get the info for a warrant, wouldn't you need to start an investigation?
Wiley: well.
[I think this exchange get to the heart of it]
#MCC

Fitch: part of what I'm troubled with is sometimes you have detailed memory of your encounters with GW, but on this the officer safety bulletin and the aftermath of the weapons complaint after the threat to his family, you have zero recollection. "I'm troubled by that"
#MCC

Wiley: all I can say is I remember what I remember and I forget what I forget
#MCC

Fitch: you couldn't find your notes.
Wiley: since then I've moved 4 times. I also lost a box of CDs and a box of video tapes. They were all the same size, maybe someone made off with them.
#MCC

Fitch, on Butlin, you said she said that she didn't want you calling Duggan. What did she want?
Wiley: she wanted him charged with sexual assault. I told her that her call generated a report, and I gave her the file number, so she could give it to the judge hearing the peace bond

This is all very, er, odd. Wiley today keeps remembering more and more details about his phone conversation with Butlin, none of it touched on in any of his interviews.
#MCC

Commissioner Kim Stanton: you only got a copy of the Butlin review last month... would you want to be contacted, even if you had moved?
Wiley: I wouldn't be offended, but I'm doing something else entirely now.
#MCC

Wiley: I now do "larger investigations. I don't want to get into it because I don't know what's going to be shared from today."
Probably no one will share anything, Greg.
#MCC

Stanton: we're done here.
Wiley: I have some advice...
#MCC

Wiley: I was surprised when I saw my Mass Casualty Commission interview, I couldn't understand it. "Who in the world transcribed this?" It appears it's done by a machine. [It is, it's Trint, which I uses as well]
MORE

Wiley: I have a master's degree in education. You guys really need to do a better job on this transcription.

Boy, howdy.

Wiley: not on my behalf, but on behalf of the families of the victims... It appears to me, that the media is "playing fast and loose with their facts." ... "Sensationalist reporting"...

Wiley: someone wrote that I was a lead investigator on the sexual assault, and got a bunch of stuff wrong.

Wiley: the police and the media serve similar functions.

Wait, what?

Wiley: the media gather information and share it with the public, and they're not held to account for the accuracy. They should be held to account for greater accuracy.

Wiley: if the media is getting stuff wrong... "if there's a penalty box for hockey, there should be a timeout for media."

[bodychecks Wiley]

Wiley: [cries] I'm just thinking of the families.

#MCC

Wiley: "today was for the families"

Well now.

Today's proceedings are over.

What she said

https://twitter.com/RhondaBrown5/status/1567245209213222914?s=20&t=EFJrsMJDrWQBlRIGEFg48Q