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.
In a newly released decision, Federal Court Associate Chief Justice Jocelyne Gagne says Lucki breached her duty under the RCMP Act by not submitting a response to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission’s interim report on the spying allegations "as soon as feasible."
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced the arrival of 250 Afghan refugees this afternoon, including the first 170 admitted through a special program for human rights defenders.
Serious allegations of voter fraud involving the BC Liberal leadership campaign should be investigated independently, Vancouver-Hastings MLA Niki Sharma said today. According to multiple media reports, five of seven leaderships campaigns have sent a joint letter to the BC Liberals’ Leadership Organizing Committee alleging membership irregularities.
As Quebec officials consider tightening the rules for the unvaccinated, health experts in the province say expanding the vaccine passport system is justified because of the high number of COVID-19 patients in hospital who have refused to be jabbed.
Premier Francois Legault made the announcement as the province reported another daily record for virus-related hospitalizations. Of the 2,742 patients in Quebec hospitals with COVID-19 on Tuesday, 255 of them were in intensive care.
It's an idea that has been floated previously, to hive off the special benefits for new parents from the EI system, given the growth in demand for the leaves, although how to finance it has been a key stumbling block.
