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.
Canada deployed a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft from April 26 to May 26 to Japan, as part of Operation NEON, a multinational effort to support the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
The threshold falls short of the 4.5 grams requested by the province and has been criticized as too low by some advocates who say entrenched drug users typically carry more.
A statement from the board reports 2,918 sales across Metro Vancouver in May, nearly 32 per cent below those recorded in May 2021 and 9.7 per cent below the number of residential properties that changed hands last month.
The Vancouver-based athletic clothing company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$1.48 per diluted share in the first quarter, up from US$1.11 per share or US$145 million a year earlier.
Police arrived within minutes of the call and located a female victim suffering from apparent stab wounds. The victim was given first aid at the scene and then transported to hospital with serious injuries.
The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced today that a charge of assault causing bodily harm has been approved against Surrey RCMP Cst. Jagjeet Bassan in connection with their involvement in an on-duty incident.
