Over several days in September, the Mass Casualty Commission held a series of closed door consultations with family members and others affected by the April 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.
A resident of Portapique, N.S., who survived the mass shooting that began in the small community in April 2020 has died suddenly after years of 'hell' trying to move away from the area where many of his friends and neighbours were killed.
Darrin Murphy, who has been living in a tent in the park with his partner since July, said everything inside their tent is wet and covered in mould. “I don’t know what warmth is anymore,” he said.
Murphy said in low-lying areas of the park, closer to Crystal Pool, three to four inches of water seeped into his neighbours’ tents. On Wednesday morning, he was preparing to move to the parking lot and into a dry tent. “It will be nice to get out of this wet, mouldy tent.”
People living in the park were given sleeping bags and cots Tuesday, but some lost everything to the flooding, said Jen Wilde, regional co-ordinator for the Greater Victoria Extreme Weather Protocol. “Their personal gear, their clothing is all soaked, so they’re all running to the laundromat to get it cleaned and dried. It’s a mess. It’s a total mess out here. They are living in a mud puddle,” she said.