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 ridings where lots of votes were received by mail, staff may not be able to start actually counting them until tomorrow and may have to continue for several days.
New Democrats had high hopes heading into Monday’s vote that a breakthrough might be coming thanks to greater voter recognition of Singh, more money to spend on the campaign, and a sense the Liberals under Justin Trudeau were vulnerable.
Late Monday, Justin Trudeau's Liberals were leading or elected in 157 seats — exactly the same number they won in 2019, 13 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of Commons.
The BC Prosecution Service says Juk concluded a special prosecutor was needed in light of allegations made by Mayor Doug McCallum amid ongoing public discussions about the RCMP in Surrey being replaced by a municipal police force.
Air travel to the U.S. from Canada has never been restricted, and it's not yet clear whether the new vaccination rules will be imposed on Canadian passengers when they take effect. The rules at the Canada-U.S. border have also allowed trade and essential workers to move between the two countries unfettered.
While the majority of polling stations opened on time and without incident, Elections Canada spokeswoman Diane Benson says issues have been reported with several sites in Ontario and Western Canada, resulting in some stations opening late or having to be relocated.
