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.
At approximately 1:14 a.m. on July 19, 2021, Surrey RCMP Frontline responded to a report of an injured man under the Patullo Bridge. Frontline officers located the man suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
Qualtrough says consultations will start next month on how the decades-old system can be modernized after its shortcomings were exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary declared a local state of emergency and ordered 122 properties evacuated, while residents in another 304 properties have been put on alert as the 20-square kilometre Nk'Mip Creek wildfire sweeps east, parallel to the U.S. border.
The bank says Sharon Kozicki will take on the role on Aug. 2 after serving eight years as an advisor to former governor Stephen Poloz and current governor Tiff Macklem.
While the survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies had 25 per cent of respondents picking Justin Trudeau as the best prime minister, Singh wasn’t far behind with 19 per cent while only 13 per cent chose O’Toole.
