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.
On May 3, 2022, 39-year-old, Giovanni Robert Cipparone, was charged with four counts of Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking in Property Obtained by Crime and four counts of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. Giovanni has been served a summons to appear in court later this month.
An information charging Cst. Randhawa with one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm contrary to section 320.13(2) of the Criminal Code was sworn on May 18, 2022, under Provincial Court file number 248979. The first appearance on this matter is scheduled for June 15, 2022, in Surrey Provincial Court.
U.S. health officials said they are in contact with officials in the U.K. and Canada as part of the investigation. The U.S. case poses no risk to the public, and the Massachusetts resident is hospitalized but in good condition, officials said.
More than 5,000 Canadian adults — members of the Angus Reid Forum, a public polling cohort — participated in the fourth phase of the Action to Beat Coronavirus (Ab-C) study. The findings of the study were published as a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday.
Singh wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fund the benefit increases by redirecting a $2.6-billion tax credit promised in the recent budget to help companies build carbon capture and storage systems.
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