“The public outcry for an inquiry was not a demand to have discrete groups of affected individuals participate in a series of private meetings,” the letter says.

“The families and individuals who lost loved ones as a result of this massacre, the women and children who are subjected to misogynistic violence every day in Canada, and the Canadian public traumatized by …(the) mass killing are entitled to the full and public justice of an inquiry that ensures public accessibility … public accountability and transparency.”

Public hearings are central to the concept of a public inquiry, said Deepa Mattoo, executive director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic in Toronto, a specialized counselling and legal clinic for women experiencing violence.

“Unfortunately, a restorative approach without a proper … transparent approach would mean lack of accountability from the system,” Mattoo said in an email.

Source: Groups ‘shocked’ by minister’s approach to inquiry into Nova Scotia mass murder | CTV News