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.
Crown prosecutor David Butcher told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that he learned of two new sets of documents relevant to the case during an interview Wednesday night with Hilary Woodward, executive financial officer at the legislature.
There are 29,556 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 284,832 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 977 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 141 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation
So when President Joe Biden gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a pair of gold-framed aviator sunglasses at the Three Amigos North American summit last November, his protocol team no doubt knew that Canada’s prime minister has a penchant for wearing shades.
The movement, which began in British Columbia days earlier, has been picking up participants across the country, with local truckers joining in at different points.
The comments came one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week a package of support for Ukraine. That includes expanding Canada’s efforts to train the Ukrainian military, bolstering its cyber defences, as well as financial assistance.
A spokesman with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria says crew members on board the vessel were able to put out the fire Thursday morning.
