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.
80.2% (3,717,929) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 56.9% (2,636,377) have received their second dose.
This evening, at 5:20 p.m., Burnaby RCMP frontline officers responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision at Duthie Avenue and Montecito Drive. Two people have died as a result of this collision. There were no other injuries.
Canadians, however, are seeing no similar relaxing of rules. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security extended its COVID-19 restrictions on travel by land from Canada until at least Aug 21. Air travel to the U.S. is permitted with certain conditions.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay has ordered more than 170 properties evacuated along a 10-kilometre strip of the Slocan River north of Appledale, near the western flank of the two-week old Trozzo wildfire.
