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.
Health Canada says 311 patients in Canada reported a case of Bell's Palsy after getting a COVID-19 shot though that does not specifically mean the condition was caused by the vaccine.
Between April 9 and August 1, the incidents occurred just off Kerr Street between 51st and 55th avenues between 3 and 9 p.m. Reports of the suspect’s age range between 17 to 30 years old. In all cases, the suspect is wearing sweatpants and a hooded sweater.
Vancouver resident Gilles Hebert, 60, was allegedly assaulted by another person, rendering him unconscious. He was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.
Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) will be the new federal regional economic development agency for British Columbia, providing $553.1 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, and $110.6 million ongoing.
The federal agency said Friday that the job gains caused the unemployment rate to fall to its lowest level since March of this year, at 7.5 per cent for July compared with 7.8 per cent in June.
Guards who work for the Canada Border Services Agency were following procedures to the letter, part of a job action that began early Friday amid contract talks between the federal government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada's Customs and Immigration Union.
