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.
Sean Fraser, Canada's minister responsible for refugees, says the latest arrivals are among a total of 7,000 refugees that have now been airlifted to various parts of Canada.
On January 19, 2022 shortly after 3:00 a.m. Surrey RCMP responded to the report of shots fired inside a warming center in the 10600-block of King George Boulevard. Two people were located with injuries believed to be gunshot wounds. Both victims were transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and have since been released.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says in a news release that Hang Hing Herbal Medicine Ltd. was fined $75,000 for importing an endangered species without a permit.
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Pronounced PAX-luh-vid, it is an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19, consisting of a combination of two medications that must be taken together. The first drug, nirmatrelvir, blocks an enzyme that the SARS-CoV-2 virus needs to reproduce.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the latest evidence does not support the hope the Omicron variant is contagious for less time than previous versions of the virus that causes COVID-19.
