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.
Officers from departments in Victoria, Vancouver, New Westminster, Delta, Surrey, Saanich, Victoria and the Metro Vancouver Transit Police are being investigated, the statement said.
Flood warnings, watches or high streamflow advisories cover much of southern B.C. and Environment Canada said Fernie would be the centre of a rainstorm bringing 50 to 80 millimetres before it tapered to showers Tuesday.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Monday June 13, 2022, frontline Richmond RCMP officers responded to the Massey Tunnel after multiple reports of people on foot blocking traffic in both north and south directions. Three people were found sitting on Highway 99 while a fourth person was perched on a platform ladder.
The service oversees the inventory from which blood and blood products are regularly shifted around the country to meet hospital and patient needs. About 400,000 Canadians give blood on a regular basis.
Trudeau said he will be following public health guidelines and isolating. He was scheduled to appear at a garden party for Liberal party donors in Ottawa on Monday evening.
