and CBC News. Ca. We are standing by for the Prime Minister’s daily update on the federal responses to the pandemic. But, of course, we are also at this hour tracking breaking news out of Nova Scotia. RCMP say they now have a shooting suspect in custody. The suspect has been on the run for several tense hours, following what is being described as a violent incident in a small community near Truro. We don’t know a lot more. But we will expect the Prime Minister might likely address the situation now that the suspect is in custody. Let’s begin with that breaking news story in Nova Scotia. Shaina luck joins me from great village, close to where some of this morning’s events unfolded. and this has been going on for hours. What can you tell us about how it’s played out?

Reporter:

Well, as you said, the suspect – we know from RCMP that gunman is now in custody and we know that he has been on the run for approximately 12 hours. The RCMP tell us that he was tracked down between here and Halifax. We last know that he was seen traveling on highway 102. That is the highway, the major highway that runs between here and the city. About 45 kilometres away from where I am. and he was last seen traveling in a small silver s. U.v. We had heard from police that he might have been wearing an RCMP uniform or what looked like an RCMP uniform. At one point, he was also traveling, they believed, in a car that looked like an RCMP car. But the RCMP put out a heavy presence on that highway and they were able to apprehend him probably we first got word of that maybe just 20 minutes ago. Now we do know that this came out of some kind of incident that happened last night around 11:30. That. Happened in the town just about 10 minutes up the road from me. It’s called Portapique, a small community. We know that there are multiple victims. We don’t know how many and we don’t know how badly they are injured. and we do expect there will be an update from the RCMP at some point this afternoon. But for now we know the suspect is in custody. Rosey?

Rosemary:

So many unusual parts to this story. He is in custody now as you say. But the fact he did seem to be impersonating or pretending to be RCMP officer, the RCMP ga*ef a lot of information about that as well.

Yes, that’s right. We do know from the RCMP that he is not actually an RCMP officer. We don’t know a lot about how exactly he came to have that RCMP vehicle and RCMP uniform, whether they are actually legitimate articles. We do know that he is not an RCMP employee. CBC has been able to confirm that he is a venturist.

Rosemary:

Ok. Appreciate that. The cbc’s Shaina luck reporting from great village, Nova Scotia. To remind you a little bit about how that unfolded, starting at 11:30 last night. Near Portapique, there was a tweet from the RCMP telling people that there was a situation unfolding, telling them that there was an active shooter. Earlier this morning, telling them to stay in their homes and go to their basements in order to stay safe. There was a lot of communication between local RCMP on the ground via Twitter and other means to make sure that residents didn’t get hurt further. They now say that the suspect, gunman wortman, is in custody and they did manage to apprehend him there somewhere along the highway near Truro, Nova Scotia and, again, we do know that there are multiple victims. We don’t know if they have been injured or killed. We expect the RCMP in Nova Scotia to update us the moment we hear more about that situation. So obviously important, breaking news out of Nova Scotia. We’ll continue to track it. At this hour, we’re expecting to hear from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s doing his daily briefing to the nation around his government’s response to COVID-19. So let’s bring in David Cochrane. I expect that the Prime Minister will probably say something about this incident in Nova Scotia first. and maybe give us some details if he has any, David. What else are we expecting from him today?

Reporter:

I’m not sure we’ll get much in the way of a significant news announcement today. But the news that is happening here in Ottawa is the negotiations happening behind the scenes with all the part is to figure out what to do about the house of commons which is due to come back in full force with all 388 M.P.s scheduled to come back and take their seats in the middle of a pandemic, an thao*uk no one is super keen to have at all. There are talks of reduced sittings with reduced numbers, but they are not all the way down yet. The liberals and new democrats have reached an agreement in the last 20 minutes as far as I can tell, that they would get the support of liberal n. D.p. To have one sitting this week with a lot of time dedicated to question period, the equivalents of a week of question period happening in one city and then move into one virtual sitting next week and the week after that, one in person and two virtual sitings and that would become the template for the house of commons on how it would function going forward. This is a move from the liberals who wanted one sitting and one virtual sitting as the baseline each week. They decided to go up to two to satisfy the new democrats. The greens and bloc quÉbÉcois, would go along with this. Andrew Scheer is keen to have parliament come back and resume its normal function in what are abnormal times with a reduced sitting. Something like we saw before and theys paed legislation of 30 to 40M.P.s from around the Ottawa area. The conservatives started with a request or demand for four in-person sitings as the negotiations have gone on, they have countered with three in-person sitings. The liberals, the greens, the bloc, they don’t want to go to that. You can reduce the number of M.P.s, but you need staff, broadcasters, political staff, clerks and dozens and dozens of people would go into the west block and even last time with the reduced sitings, elizabeth may and others complained that when you left your seats there’s lots of seats. and when you head back, there’s too many support staff for people to safely social distance. These are the behind the scenes conversations in ottawa. What is the compromise? four of the parties have largely found an agreement that functions. The conservatives are not on board with that yet and we’ll hear from Andrew Scheer a little bit later this afternoon to see what he has to say on this.

Rosemary:

I realise for people that that is a lot of days and a lot of information about what’s trying to go on here. But essentially they’re trying to find a way for parliamentarians to do their work in some capacity inside the house of commons and for the government to answer questions and be held to account for decisions that it’s making. It is vitally important. I don’t think anyone disagrees with that.

Reporter:

Everything is suspended and put on hold. But democracy hasn’t been abandoned in Canada. The house normally sits five days a week with people flying in from all over the country, there’s no way for that to happen safely and practically. So, the liberals wanted to have one sitting day a week with an online virtual day. They are trying to find a solution for everybody. You can understand the em pulse of the conservatives of wanting to have an opportunity to question the Prime Minister and the various ministers. We’re up to almost $300 billion in aid that has been put on the table by the government. You know, a full year’s budget is normally about $350 billion. So, they have done almost a year of spending in a matter of four or five weeks. As the urgent needs caused by COVID-19 keep expanding and growing and more and more people are. Captured by these programmes. We’ve seen Andrew Scheer come back to Ottawa with his family and holding daily press conferences. and his argument is that this is necessary to hold the government to account by answering clear and specific questions about whether they were slow to resfonld the pandemic or close the borders or buy equipment. This is what he wants to do. The other parties, though, do not agree with the conservative leader’s demand for the sheer volume for in-person sitings that he is looking for.

Rosemary:

Ok. David, I will come back to you shortly. I’m going to go back to our top story at this hour. a suspect is in custody after an active shooter’s investigation. The suspect’s name is gunman and he has been taken into custody by Nova Scotia RCMP within the last 30 minutes. But this all started to unfold yesterday evening. and mike McKay is a resident of Portapique, Nova Scotia and he has been up all night as he says multiple homes around his are on fire. He joins us on the phone. How are you doing?

Caller:

Doing good. a little tired.

Rosemary:

I bet. When did this start for you? was it last night and what were you told?

Caller:

It was around 10:30 or 11:00 last night. We noticed police cars and then the house fire and two more fires after that. We’re assuming warehouse st as well. and with not much information we were a little concerned until this morning when we heard stay inside. So, we pretty much bunker ed in for the time being.

Rosemary:

Did they appear to be large house fires? what can you tell me?

Caller:

Pretty large house fires, yes. and some explosions. Gas tank and propane tanks and what have you. and with no firefighter to be seen because of the other activity we were unaware of at the time. So – [sirens]

Rosemary:

and do you know the residents of the homes? I don’t know how much you could see in terms of what house was affected.

Caller:

We know a couple for sure that were kind of viz able from our yard. But the third we don’t know for sure. But scary, I guess.

Rosemary:

Yeah. I can’t imagine. and when you woke up this morning and found out that it was an active shooter investigation –

Caller:

We didn’t wake up this morning. We were up all night.

Rosemary:

Fair enough. When you got word that that’s what was actually happening and they told you to stay in your basement, I can’t imagine what that must have been like.

Caller:

Well, we don’t have a basement so we’re still on the main floor and concerned, again, not knowing for sure what or who to be looking out for. So we didn’t get a lot of information until this morning.

Rosemary:

Do you know the suspect? does his name –

Caller:

No.

Rosemary:

You said you knew the other houses. Had you been in contact with anyone in the other homes to see if they’re Ok.

Caller:

No. Just seeing from where we’re at, just seeing – knowing where things are.

Rosemary:

and what is the presence like in Portapique, now that the suspect is in custody?

Caller:

We’re – it’s still pretty quiet here. Haven’t seen much traffic on the road or anything. But we have to wait and see, I guess.

Rosemary:

Have police left or still there securing areas?

Caller:

From what we know, they’re still here. I’m sure there will be investigations after this.

Rosemary:

I’m sure. I don’t myself know much about Portapique, mike. Give us a sense of how big or small or rural it is.

Caller:

Very rural. Very small community. On the water. It’s cottage country here. Noise area a. – nice area. Beautiful area. and houses are spread out. a lot of trees. So you can be in the blind a little bit.

Rosemary:

Yeah. We also have heard, and I’m sure you have now, too, that the suspect was wearing – may be wearing an RCMP uniform and may have had some sort of car that looks like an RCMP car. How worrying is that?

Caller:

Well, that is pretty scary for, you know, people not knowing and he could have showed up on a doorstep and people thinking that he was police. That’s scary.

Rosemary:

Totally. How many people are in Portapique?

Caller:

a few hundred. I’m not 100% sure. It’s not a huge population.

Rosemary:

and the people you know in town, they are all safe and Ok.

Caller:

As far as we know, yes.

Rosemary:

Strange time, too. You’re obviously staying at home because of pandemic and now this happens.

Caller:

We’re just locked in a little longer.

Rosemary:

I know. I gather you’re relieved?

Caller:

Yes.

Rosemary:

Yeah.

Caller:

As well as a lot of people will be, I’m sure.

Rosemary:

Thank you for talking to us. We hope you get a nap at some point and hope everybody there is safe. Appreciate it very much. That’s mike McKay from Portapique, Nova Scotia. He is one of the residents of that small town. and a it was in that town

– town just last night that they got had twoer there was a situation unfolding around 11:00, 11:30 p. M. local time and there did appear to be an active shooter situation. We do not know very much about the situation as of yet. But police say there are multiple victims. They won’t say whether those people are injured or killed and they worked for about 12 hours or so to locate the suspect. a man by the name of gunman who, as you heard me asking mike there, appeared to be dressed as an RCMP officer and in a car that appeared almost to be a replica of an RCMP vehicle, although he is not a member of the RCMP. He is a dentist of some – a denturist of some kind. They were very worried for people’s safety. The RCMP at the time telling people to stay in their homes and he was, quote, armed and dangerous. He has been in the last 30 minutes picked up and brought into custody by the roller coaster. Many. We’ll await more details about what the RCMP can tell us about potential victims and any information about why this may have happened. So we’ll bring that to you as soon as we get it, obviously. But we are, as we do at this hour, waiting for the Prime Minister justin trudeau to emerge from his home. There it is. You’re familiar with his front door by now, Rideau cottage, where he will bring us up to date on his government’s move to contain and combat COVID-19 and he would also, I would imagine, likely speak to the situation that has now been, for now, it would seem resolved in Nova Scotia. I will bring in david Cochrane as we stand by and wait for the Prime Minister. You brought us up to date on the parliamentary negotiations.

Reporter:

I have a slight update because I’ve been in contact with Elizabeth may and to clarify the green’s position, they are only in favour of sitting in person if there is a compelling reason, such as passing legislation. They don’t want to sit just to have a question period. These can be done virtually and over zoom and to bring everybody together to have a question period sends the weening message to Canadians and that the government is telling everybody to stay home exempt Be’s us, us being members of parliament says she. They want to go to virtual as quickly and as often as possible and use that as a government accountability method, despite the glifms they’ve had with the technology on some of the committee hearings. For them, they say once a week with a small group of M.P.s constitutes an unreasonable risk and sends the wrong message to Canadians that parliamentary should stay home. The greens don’t want any in person unless it’s required to vote and pass legislation as we saw with wage subsidy and business help, for example.

Marcy:

If they’ve done it before, sort of curious that they wouldn’t find a way to do it again. and we’re expecting tier that from the speaker about where they are at in terms of virtual sitings. But we know from press conferences, some cabinet ministers forget to unmute their microphones. You can imagine where you have the situation where people try to talk over one another. I’m sure it’s possible. I’m just not sure how easy it will be and whether it will be the best demonstration of accountability. and the agree to suspend only goes until tomorrow. They have to reach some OT of agreement before the day is over and as we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, they do tend to reach agreement, but they to end do it right at the very last minute. Ok. I think Mr. Trudeau, the Prime Minister, is about to come out in about a minute’s time. Again, we are expecting him to perhaps bring us up to date on the negotiations of the return of the house of commons. and we expect him to address the situation that now appears, anyway, to be under control in Nova Scotia where a suspect has been taken into custody. He was an active shooter, the RCMP say, and they are talking about multiple victims. We don’t know the extent of that, but perhaps the Prime Minister will have more to tell us right now.