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 Conservative opposition is calling on Liberal government to give urgent funding to Kabul safe houses that are providing refuge to 1,700 Afghan interpreters and their families. On Friday, those safe houses are set to close because the money keeping them open will run out.
"Canada can lead in the low-carbon world if we keep putting our investments, innovations and brain power behind ambitious climate action," Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a news release.
Veronica Baker, a spokeswoman for Saskatoon Public Schools, says a before-school program was taking place in the room when the unexpected visitor made its dramatic entrance.
Champagne says the two sides talked about how to strengthen cross-border supply chains, the potential role of Canada's critical-minerals industry and meeting shared climate goals.
A 2021 wildfire summary says about $565 million was spent in the "tremendously challenging" period between April 1 and Sept. 30, when 1,610 wildfires charred 8,682 square kilometres, mainly in southern and southeastern B.C.
British Columbia Premier John Horgan says a biopsy has shown a growth in his throat was cancerous. In a statement Thursday, he said his prognosis is good and he expects to make a full recovery.
