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.
Wong was a young athlete and a promising student on the night of January 13, 2018, when he was struck by a stray bullet while riding in the back of his parents’ car. He was critically injured and died days later in hospital. Whiteside was also killed in the shooting.
All incidents occurred in the morning between 8:20 to 8:30 a.m. The suspect is described as South Asian, 30-40 years old, medium complexion, dark hair, 5’10, average build, with facial stubble and a moustache.
Roman Baber will launch his campaign Wednesday evening, and says he considers himself to be the underdog in the party's contest, competing against well-known federal Conservatives like Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis. Former Quebec premier Jean Charest is also planning to enter the race Thursday.
More than three decades later, North America's single largest source of freshwater is back in the public spotlight, this time for seemingly all the right reasons — thanks, at least in part, to the political woes of a certain U.S. president.
Canada previously said it was shipping non-lethal equipment such as body vests and helmets, as well as more than $10 million in weapons such as machine-guns, rocket launchers and hand grenades. Trudeau acknowledged getting the equipment into Ukraine has not been easy.
A statement from the coroner's office says the panel reviewed 6,000 deaths from toxic illicit drugs between 2017 and 2021. There were 2,224 suspected overdose deaths in the province last year, which was a 26 per cent jump over the previous year.
