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.
On March 4, 2022, Surrey RCMP received a report of a theft of package from a residence located in 8600-block of 156 Street. Police attended and learned that a package containing items such as designer jackets, shoes, sunglasses and t-shirts was stolen.
As the economy went into a downward spiral, with three million jobs lost and more having their hours slashed, the government pushed off the filing deadline and collection efforts. That move freed CRA officials to focus on doling out pandemic aid, and aimed to keep more cash in the pockets of Canadians to help them pay the bills.
Statistics Canada says that excluding gasoline prices, the headline inflation rate would have been 4.7 per cent in February. Grocery store prices were up 7.4 per cent for the largest yearly increase since May 2009, pushed higher by rising fuel costs that are being passed on to consumers.
A defiant Zelenskyy, clad in his trademark olive-green military T-shirt, evoked some of the darkest memories in American history Wednesday as he urged members of the U.S. Congress to shutter the skies over his besieged country.
The decision from the office of B.C.'s privacy commissioner asserts that federal parties are also subject to the province's privacy law when it comes to the collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of B.C. residents.
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