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The federal Conservatives are calling for an independent inquiry on the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., to understand what happened and how to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
“We have a responsibility so that it never happens again, and I think that an inquiry will find those answers and then make recommendations,” said Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, whose riding covers Tumbler Ridge.
“At the end of the day, we want to get to the bottom of what happened to provide answers, to provide healing and to provide prevention from this happening in the future,” said B.C. Conservative MP Frank Caputo, who is also the party’s public safety critic.
Under the Inquiries Act, the federal government can begin an inquiry “concerning any matter connected with the good government of Canada” and appoint commissioners to handle the matter.
Earlier this week, B.C. Premier David Eby said his province will use “any tools available” to ensure questions about the tragedy are answered, but he stopped short of announcing a public inquiry, which a local MLA is calling for now.
Caputo said what the Conservatives want would be separate from any other inquiries and investigations, and could work in tandem with the RCMP’s ongoing investigation.
“An independent inquiry will look into things like mental health, access to firearms, and the protection of victims’ families,” Caputo said.
A news release from the Conservatives sent Sunday afternoon said the inquiry must answer “multiple questions of grave importance.”
That includes the shooter’s access to firearms, their mental health, the police response, the nature of artificial intelligence used by the shooter and the steps taken to “inform, support and engage those most affected, including investigations into the threats received by victims’ families.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters the federal government will “fully explore” anything that can be done to prevent future tragedies like Tumbler Ridge.
Questions still unanswered
Tumbler Ridge is still reeling from the horrific tragedy on Feb. 10, when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at the family home before going to the local secondary school, where she killed five students, an educational assistant and then herself.
Police are still investigating how Van Rooselaar, who had a history of mental illness, got hold of the guns recovered at the two crime scenes.
Ottawa is also pressing OpenAI, the tech company behind ChatGPT, to do more after it was revealed Van Rootselaar had an account that the company banned for posts about gun violence.
On Friday, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May reacted to new details about OpenAI’s protocol responding to the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter’s banned ChatGPT account — and a recently reported second account. ‘Something could have been done if only the rich bastards in the AI industry had reported what they knew,’ May said.
OpenAI didn’t flag the account to police and has said that Van Rootselaar’s activities didn’t meet the company’s reporting threshold at the time because it didn’t identify credible or imminent planning.
After meeting with federal ministers earlier this week, OpenAI said it has a new enhanced law enforcement referral protocol and would “refer the account banned in June 2025 to law enforcement if it were discovered today.”
AI Minister Evan Solomon and Eby have both said they plan to meet with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
