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.
UPDATE: Surrey RCMP are providing an update that the 64-year-old man reported missing on August 12, 2021, was located deceased. Criminality is not believed to be a factor in the male’s death and the investigation is being turned over to BC Coroner Service.
On August 8, 2021, Andrea Gus was reported missing by a family member. Andrea has been contact with family since the initial report, but has not responded to messages since August 10, 2021.
Universal pharmacare and dental care, a $20 minimum wage and student debt cancellation comprise part of the proto-platform, which Singh labels his "commitments for a New Deal for people" in a not-so-subtle nod to the state-led progressivism of former U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt.
There has been speculation about a coming election for months, but the exact timing has been up in the air given the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
