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OTTAWA – Neither the government of Nova Scotia nor the RCMP can explain why a potentially life-saving emergency alert system wasn’t used while a gunman went on a shooting rampage that killed at least 18 people over the weekend.

Attempts by the RCMP and the provincial government to justify why the Alert Ready system was not used were confusing and contradictory.

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And at least one expert said if the system had been used it could have saved lives.

Victims included Lillian Hyslop who was out walking her dog because no one had warned her to avoid the outdoors.

“There is no reason to not have used the emergency alert system, because it is fundamentally designed to save lives. Active shooter situations are always used as a case study when designing these systems,” said Yannick Hémond, a risk-management specialist and professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

“I think that in this case, it could have saved lives. The decision not to use it has to be explained.”