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.
Meng, the tech giant's chief financial officer and daughter of the company's founder, has been under house arrest in Vancouver as she awaits possible extradition to the United States.
Premier John Horgan says his government is working to allocate funding to buy more naloxone kits, which have successfully been used to reverse opioid overdoses in thousands of people in the province.
The journalists from CTV News, Global News and the Hill Times had asked about the People's Party's endorsement by white nationalist groups, fears among racialized Canadians about what the party represents and whether it tolerates potential acts of hate by supporters on the campaign trail.
The cost estimate from the Insurance Bureau of Canada says the so-called White Rock Lake fire destroyed 78 properties in the Central Okanagan. The bureau says the fire was one of the most destructive blazes in the province this year and they are expecting more than 800 claims related to the disaster.
Burnaby RCMP would like to take this moment to remind those who are involved in ongoing demonstrations that police are an impartial party and are there to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
There are 5,697 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 173,786 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 330 individuals are in hospital and 148 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
