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.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the group PolySeSouvient calls for the appointment of a minister who "truly supports gun control." PolySeSouvient has frequently expressed frustration with Liberal efforts to strengthen gun laws, led in recent years by Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, as public safety minister.
Lewis said the last miner to emerge from the ground was taken away in an ambulance as a precautionary measure, but "walked onto the ambulance and was giving fist bumps to the mine rescue team in the warm room."
Dr. Katharine Smart, president of the national association, is urging the federal and provincial governments to take immediate action. The association is calling for short, controlled lockdowns, often called "firebreakers" or "circuit-breakers," which would close schools and non-essential businesses.
Questions remain about what the return to Parliament will look like for Canada's 338 representatives after the recent federal election saw the Liberals re-elected to a minority government.
The report comes less than a month after chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said January to June was the deadliest ever for drug toxicity in B.C. With data from July added, the report says the 1,204 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths are the highest ever in the first seven months of a year — 28 per cent above the same period last year.
British Columbia has recorded another 652 cases of COVID-19 and 2 related deaths, according to an update posted after officials announced new regional restrictions for part of the Lower Mainland. There has been an uptick in coronavirus hospitalizations to 316, up from 303 on Monday, with 141 patients in ICU.
