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.
A new report suggests Canada is not doing enough to adapt to and prevent the effects of climate change and is lacking the critical data it needs to do so.
Two schools have stopped in-person classes in British Columbia, less than two days after most students returned to classrooms following an extended holiday break due to the surging COVID-19 Omicron variant. The Education Ministry says schools in Hazelton and Surrey recently made the decision.
Given the continued need for public safety measures under the Emergency Program Act and ongoing work to repair damaged highways, the provincial state of emergency is being extended until the end of day, Jan. 18, 2022.
There are 36,087 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 244,551 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 469 individuals are in hospital and 97 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Federal COVID-19 vaccine contracts mean Canada should get enough doses to give two or three more mRNA shots to every Canadian, every year until at least 2024.
British Columbia's provincial health officer says the current wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to continue for several more weeks. Dr. Bonnie Henry says many people who have contracted the highly transmissible Omicron variant are fully vaccinated and their illness has been relatively mild.
