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.
Officers were called to an apartment in the 2500-block of Quadra Street Tuesday afternoon for a man in a mental health crisis who was said to be at risk of becoming violent. Police say the man refused to speak with them, and barricaded himself inside the unit.
Outbreaks on June 2 have also been confirmed in two small flocks in Alberta, pushing the total number of cases there to 31 since a commercial poultry flock was infected on April 6.
West Fraser had paid a quarterly dividend of 25 cents US per share. The company says the increased payment to shareholders follows its recent share buyback plan that reduced its number of shares outstanding.
The virus, typically only found in West and Central Africa, has cropped up around the globe with cases in Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and more than two dozen other countries.
Several charges were approved in May 2021, but the suspect had left the province and a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest. In January 2022, with the assistance of Laval Police (Service du police de Laval), 33-year-old Quebec resident, Moussa Daoui, was arrested and returned to B.C.
Victims are 23-year-old Kevin Allaraj, and 22-year-old Jeevan Saepan. Both were from the Lower Mainland and known to police. Initial information obtained indicates that this is a targeted incident connected to gang activities.
