Three RCMP officers have settled their lawsuit against the Public Complaints Commission just days before it was scheduled to go to trial. Supt. Dennis Massey, Const. Amrik Virk and Const. David Joyes sued the commission in 1996 claiming their reputations were damaged by a public inquiry into the way police handled the violent Giant Mine strike in Yellowknife in 1992.

It was a strike that culminated in the murder of nine men in an explosion. Massey said he is frustrated he and his colleagues won’t get a chance to clear their names, but the financial risk was too great. A union official alleged the officers used excessive force when they pointed guns at pickets.