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.
In October of 2021, police received information that a mixed martial arts trainer based out of Pitt Meadows had allegedly sexually exploited a female youth, for several years, during training sessions dating back to 2016.
The Canada Border Services Agency created widespread confusion last month after it issued a statement to media saying that unvaccinated truckers would remain exempt from quarantine and testing requirements after entering the country at the Canada-U.S. border.
The Liberals' budget last year set aside $29.8 billion in new spending starting this fiscal year through to 2026 for the Canada-wide system by sending money to provinces and territories to cover costs.
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Randall Ennis, who served as acting sergeant-at-arms in 2018, told the B.C. Supreme Court in James's fraud and breach of trust trial that the locks to the clerk's office were changed after James was suspended.
