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 official announcement from Public Services and Procurement Canada comes nearly a week after The Canadian Press first reported Boeing had been told its bid for the $19-billion fighter-jet contract did not meet Canada's requirements.
Flood warnings have been issued for several major rivers in British Columbia's Fraser Valley and Interior following a series of major storms that are crossing the province. The B.C. government's River Forecast Centre has issued warnings around the Tulameen, Similkameen, Coldwater and Lower Nicola rivers, as well as Spius Creek.
The victim, a 32-year-old woman, was crossing Quebec Street at Central Street around 10:20 p.m. on November 27 when she was struck by a vehicle that was heading south. Though the driver fled, significant debris, including a driver-side mirror, were left behind on the road.
In September 2021, McCarty, who used an alias, allegedly contacted and communicated with a 14-year-old Surrey youth, on social media. He then allegedly groomed the youth for a sexual purpose, and coerced them to create, and distribute self-exploitive sexual material.
Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole will once again allow his caucus to have a free vote on a government bill seeking to ban conversion therapy. The so-called therapy is widely discredited as a harmful practice, aimed at trying to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
More than two dozen weather warnings remain in effect across southern and coastal British Columbia, complicating clean-up efforts from previous flooding and mudslides.
