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.
The robbery occurred around 6 p.m. on December 3, as holiday shoppers were visiting the Dunsmuir Street retailer. The suspect, who was masked, entered the store and deployed a cloud of bear spray, then walked over to a display rack and stole a $1,800 purse, before exiting the store and walking east on Dunsmuir to Seymour Street.
The federal government is extending, and slightly expanding, a travel exemption for Canadians trying to return home from South Africa. Earlier this month, the government lifted a requirement for Canadian travellers from South Africa to have a negative COVID-19 molecular test result in a third country before coming to Canada.
The University of Victoria in British Columbia will not be holding any further in-person exams this month. The school said its instructors have been asked to offer alternative exams online or in another format.
Canada is expecting a potentially massive surge in cases in the coming weeks, driven by the new Omicron variant already spreading through communities, said Dr. Theresa Tam. While COVID-19 might be with us for many years to come, Tam is optimistic the pandemic could end in the foreseeable future.
Streamed online from National Defence Headquarters, the apology followed the federal government’s $600-million settlement with tens of thousands of current and former Armed Forces members who experienced such behaviour while serving.
The agency says a low-pressure system is moving into the southern part of the province starting Monday night and is expected to stay on until Tuesday, bringing up to 20 centimetres of snow in some areas.
