Judge who led the Desmond investigation accuses NS government of spreading misinformation

The Nova Scotia government is facing allegations from a judge who says misinformation and ignorance drove the attorney general’s decision last week to fire him as the commissioner leading a high-profile investigation.

County Court Judge Warren Zimmer was appointed in July 2018 to lead the fatality inquiry that investigated why war veteran Lionel Desmond killed three family members and himself in 2017.

In a July 6 letter to investigative lawyers, Zimmer says the government’s suggestion that he delayed the investigative process is abusive, and accuses Attorney General Brad Johns of being ignorant of the complexities of the investigative process.

Two days earlier, Prime Minister Tim Houston said his government had decided to replace the judge because Zimmer’s final report was taking too long, and the prime minister went on to say “it was not clear there was going to be a report”.

Zimmer’s letter, however, contains an excerpt from an earlier letter to the government stating that he planned to complete his August report on June 30.

Zimmer was due to retire as a judge in March 2022, a month before the inquiry’s hearings concluded, but his term was extended four times in the past 18 months to allow him to complete the report. The government decided on 4 July not to extend his term in office.

MORE TOP STORIES