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.
The soda was sold nationally in 200 millilitre containers with a best before date of Sep. 24, 2023. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the recall was triggered by a consumer complaint.
The decrease marked the largest drop since January 2021, when the economy shed 207,800 jobs, Statistics Canada said Friday. The job losses also pushed the unemployment rate to 6.5 per cent in January compared with 6.0 per cent in December
Vikram Bajwa wants the court to force the party to provide details of its audit of thousands of new memberships signed up during the campaign. His petition also asks that the party be ordered to reveal its conclusions on whether any co-ordinated voter fraud took place in the leadership race.
A statement from Delta Police says officers responded to a call of shots fired just after 2 a.m. at a home on the northeast side of the city. The unnamed male victim died at the scene.
Vikram Bajwa, a longtime Liberal party member, has petitioned the B.C. Supreme Court to delay the scheduled release of the leadership results while the party provides details of its audit of new memberships signed up during the campaign.
There are 25,554 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 299,657 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 985 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 145 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
