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.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says there are currently 3,325 health-care workers across the province who have not been immunized against COVID-19 in violation of the government's proof-of-vaccination policy for health-care workers.
VPD received 4,550 calls for service during the weekend, including 2,418 which were placed to 9-1-1. That’s a 10 per cent increase in 9-1-1 calls, compared to the same weekend last year.
A statement from the coroner and the Ministry of Public Safety says all the deaths are being investigated and reports on each fatality should be complete by early 2022.
In the lead-up to Remembrance Day, the organization says it will have more than 34,000 traditional poppy boxes at locations across Canada, where people can donate cash and receive a poppy pin — roughly 9,000 more boxes than last year.
The prime minister was speaking at the 26th meeting of the Council of Parties to the UN climate convention, known as COP26, where more than 120 world leaders have gathered for two days to assess global efforts to address what many see as an existential problem.
Mounties say they first found 73-year-old Judy Swain dead in the Rural Municipality of Hanover, south of Winnipeg, and had information that a suspect was headed to the city.
