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.
Hackers targeted a Tuesday virtual news conference held by lawyers and family members of victims of the Iranian military's downing of a passenger jet two years ago. The family members, along with their legal team, had begun a video media availability to discuss a court decision that awarded them millions.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai formally requested a dispute settlement panel last May to examine allegations from American producers that Canada is denying them fair access to the Canadian market.
Ottawa has officially announced it has reached agreements in principle with First Nations partners to compensate children harmed by its underfunding of child welfare. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says at $40 billion, the settlement marks the largest in Canadian history.
Data posted on the BC Assessment website shows market value as of July 1, 2021, increased over 40 per cent in the communities of Hope, Port Alberni, Lake Cowichan and other rural areas, while Vancouver was up seven per cent.
Charges have been laid against a 22-year-old Abbotsford resident and a 21-year-old Calgary resident after a joint investigation into a robbery series that occurred in Surrey, Langley, and Abbotsford. Between October 2, 2021 and October 11, 2021, three robberies in three different jurisdictions occurred.
RCMP on Vancouver Island say a 27-year-old man has been charged with one count of second-degree murder following a slaying in Langford, B.C. An unnamed woman was found dead in a home during a wellness check on Dec. 31.
