Ottawa, June 24 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied meddling in an investigation into the 2020 mass shooting, the worst the country's history.
Brenda Lucki, head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has been accused of pressuring local officers to help advance Trudeau's gun control plans, the BBC quoted the Halifax Examiner as saying, which was the first to report on the development.
According to the Halifax Examiner, the accusation stemmed from notes made by a local RCMP officer, released as part of a public investigation into the mass shooting on April 18-19, 2020, during which a gunman posing as a police officer killed 22 people in Nova Scotia.
The suspect died in a stand-off with police.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, Trudeau said that his government "did not put any undo influence or pressure" on police.
"It is extremely important to highlight that it is only the RCMP, it is only police that determine what and when to release information," the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
Denying the accusations, Commissioner Lucki said in a statement released on Tuesday that information sharing between the federal government and police is normal during a high-profile event such as a mass shooting.
The RCMP chief however acknowledged that she "should have been more sensitive" in her approach.
Canada's opposition Conservative Party has called for a debate in the House of Commons, and a parliamentary committee voted on Thursday to hold a hearing into the matter.
In the wake of the deadliest rampage in Canadian history, Prime Minister Trudeau in May 2020 announced an immediate ban on the sale, transportation, importation, or use of some 1,500 makes and models of "military-grade assault-style" weapons.
Aeroflot Flight 111 entered Canadian airspace on Feb. 27 after the federal government had banned all Russian aircraft earlier that day in retaliation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
With further details on sanctions to come later this week, Joly told reporters Ottawa will do everything in its power to ensure Russia is isolated diplomatically, economically and politically, while providing Ukraine with weapons.
Fareed Khan, founder of Canadians United Against Hate, says the government needs to start by acknowledging that the country and its institutions were built upon Indigenous genocide, slavery and white supremacy.
According to the complainant, she was in a parent monitoring room of a local business when she observed a man allegedly pulling down a young child’s pants. The complainant viewed the incident through a television, which cycles through surveillance from various cameras located throughout the business.
VPD investigators now believe the victim and suspect had a brief verbal confrontation outside the station, and that the suspect followed the victim into the station, pushed him down a set of stairs, kicked him, and fled before police were called.
