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.
A video statement issued yesterday by Moore's family and police Chief Del Manak follows the assault on Manak one day earlier. A woman poured liquid on the chief as he was an invited guest at a memorial for Moore outside the British Columbia legislature.
Once inside the residence, signs of illicit drug activity were noted and Surrey RCMP was called to assist. Frontline police officers attended and discovered what they believed to be a Psilocybin mushroom drug laboratory. A woman was arrested at the scene, and later released pending further investigation.
The move follows $110 million in funding for a sustainable global opportunities strategy in March. UBC announced plans last year to divest the endowment of fossil fuel investments and a 45 per cent reduction of portfolio carbon emissions within 10 years.
Later the same day the officers executed the search warrant and located a number of items inside the residence including a 9mm Semi-Automatic Handgun; a fully automatic carbine rifle; ammunition; and 358 grams of suspected Fentanyl (approximately 3580 doses). The suspected fentanyl was packaged in a way that is consistent with street-level drug trafficking.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada spearheaded an international declaration denouncing state-sponsored arbitrary detentions because of China's decision to imprison Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
The mill is not at risk and the statement says the fire has been contained to the log yard while firefighters from several area departments work to stop its spread.
