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.
Aseem Sharma, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta in the renewable resources department, says extreme weather events are expected to be more "common, stronger and broader" in the future and he's calling for more research to determine its cause.
The new public health measures range from limits on venues that hold more than 1,000 people to 50 per cent capacity to no youth or adult sports tournaments over the Christmas holiday period and cancellation of all New Year's Eve parties, Henry said. Indoor family gatherings, including those at rental or holiday properties, are limited to one household, plus 10 guests, and everyone must be vaccinated.
There are 4,313 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 218,960 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 191 individuals are in hospital and 74 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The tax-credit scheme that President Joe Biden is proposing to encourage U.S. consumers to buy more electric vehicles might never be implemented in its current form, say veteran observers of both North America's auto sector and Canada-U.S. relations.
The push for Canadians to get their vaccine booster shots is ramping up as the COVID-19 Omicron variant spreads across the country, triggering more pandemic restrictions in some provinces. Starting Monday in Quebec, all bars, restaurants, retail stores and places of worship will be limited to 50 per cent capacity.
On Thursday, at around 7:21 pm, the Surrey RCMP responded to a person lying on the ground in the 8000 block of 144 Street. BC Ambulance Service and Surrey Fire Department personnel attended and pronounced the pedestrian deceased at scene.
