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.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's isolating because one of his kids tested positive for COVID-19. In an interview with The Canadian Press, he says he feels fine and has no symptoms.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says kids and adolescents are still at low risk of serious illness in general from COVID-19 but because of the high rate of infection due to Omicron more kids are being admitted to hospital.
They say in a release that the female victim was located Thursday around 4:30 p.m. in an underground parkade in the 1100-block of Austin Avenue. Police say she was rushed to hospital for treatment of stab wounds but was pronounced dead a short time later.
Teck said steelmaking coal sales for the fourth quarter came in at 5.1 million tonnes, below the 5.2 million to 5.7 million tonnes in its revised guidance it issued Dec. 5 after the record rainfall in B.C. that knocked out rail and road infrastructure.
I have been an economist, working on Bay Street in Toronto, since the early 1980s. I now lead a team that provides analysis and forecasts on numerous economic and financial indicators, such as interest rates, economic growth, unemployment, housing, exchange rates, and, of course, inflation.
Some postal service employees doing tasks with a greater risk of catching COVID-19 — for example working in a pair to unload a van inside — are being given N95 masks, but a "fit test by a qualified professional" is required before they can be worn.
