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.
Insurance losses from a wildfire that wiped out most of Lytton, B.C., have surged to $102 million. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the amount has risen from an original estimate of $78 million mostly because of delays in rebuilding the village.
The school board in Delta, B.C., is requiring all its employees to show proof of vaccination for COVID-19 and is giving them less than two months to disclose their status. Board chair Val Windsor says it is taking the step to reduce the risk of staff and students getting COVID-19.
Reshmi is a South Asian woman and 52 years old. Reshmi’s family and friends, as well as police, are concerned about Reshmi’s well-being and are asking the public to share the information provided above.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that the country will have enough third and fourth doses for all eligible Canadians — if or when they're needed — with contracts signed through 2024 with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Only days before Canadian truck drivers were required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 to get into the country or face quarantine, the federal government is backing away from the vaccine mandate. The new rule will still take effect for American truckers starting this weekend, with drivers being turned away at the border unless they've been inoculated.
Canada is joining forces with Mexico to challenge how the United States is interpreting the new rules that govern duty-free cars and trucks. Mexico last week asked for a dispute resolution panel to challenge the stringent U.S. interpretation of the auto rules of origin enshrined in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
