There are seven sections in the matching Federal and Provincial Orders in Council which established the Mass Casualty Commission and gave it a mandate. The Orders set out a list of issues to be explored, set deadlines, give the Commissioners power to enact procedures, and they also give direction that the whole enterprise be “guided by restorative principles in order to do no further harm, be trauma-informed, and be attentive to the needs of and impacts on those most directly affected and harmed”. For many, it may be unclear what, if any, legal effect those words may have. Trauma-informed court procedures, or at least the conscious development of them, is a relatively new phenomena in Canadian law, and western law generally. “Trauma-informed” has not been judicially considered, though there are some law journal articles which discuss its applicability. Essentially it means being aware of the specific ways in which people experience trauma, and developing policies and practices which reflect this understanding. It is impossible to have any meaningful discussion about the deaths of 22 people without getting into difficult emotional territory. Being trauma-informed is not meant to avoid difficult subjects if they are relevant to the core issues to be examined. It does, however, mean trying to not exacerbate anybody’s personal trauma experiences through specific, tailored steps designed to protect the person while still allowing them to participate in the MCC in a fulsome manner.
