The family of Greg Matters is calling for a federal Commission of Inquiry into his death.
Matters' sister, Tracey Matters, said the family continues to question the quality of the investigation into his death, especially in light of media reports exposing concerns about the police watchdog agency that conducted the investigation.
"Enough is enough," Tracey Matters said in a written statement. "This case needs to be taken out of the hands of government and a thorough and independent review of all RCMP and RCMP-related activities leading up to my brother's death needs to be conducted. We demand a Commission of Inquiry so that all relevant government agencies are held to account for the way this tragedy has been handled'.
On June 16 Richard Rosenthal, the chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), announced an administrative review of the Matters case.
Matters, a 40-year-old Canadian Forces veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was shot by police after a 30-hour standoff at his family's Pineview home on Sept. 10, 2012. Police were attempting to arrest Matters after he chased his brother from the property in a vehicle, forced his brother off the road and punched him in the face.
The shooting was the first investigation for newly established IIO, created as an independent watchdog to investigate police-involved deaths and injuries.
The IIO cleared the officers involved of wrongdoing in the shooting. Members of the RMCP emergency response team (ERT) attempted to use a Taser to subdue Matters, who was carrying a hatchet, the IIO report said. But the Taser failed and one of the officers shot and killed Matters to protect the vulnerable officer who had attempted to stun Matters.
And a supplemental review conducted following an coroner's inquest revealed a discrepancy between the IIO's initial report and a pathologist's testimony upheld that position. While the IIO report said Matters was shot in the chest, the pathologist said Matters was shot in the back.
'We have been asking for physical evidence connecting my brother to the hatchet he was allegedly holding and a forensic re-enactment to explain why he was shot in the back, but according to Rosenthal, this information is irrelevant," Tracey Matters said. "If there are doubts in the process, there must be doubts in the outcome."
