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.
Most of the extra spending, about $404 million, will take place in this fiscal year under the costing estimate the budget office put out today, with $174 million next year and a final $15 million the year after that.
Trudeau says the agreement stipulates Ottawa will work with the province to reach an average of $10-per-day child care in regulated spaces for children under six years old before 2027.
More than two dozen wildfires sparked overnight across British Columbia and the BC Wildfire Service website shows nearly half are believed to have been caused by lightning.
Preliminary research suggests the COVID-19 crisis is having a sustained and significant impact on youth mental health in Ontario. Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children released initial findings Thursday indicating that the majority of children and teenagers saw their mental health decline during the pandemic's second wave.
Canada’s top military procurement official warns there is no "quick fix" to the software issue identified as the primary cause of last year’s deadly helicopter crash off the coast of Greece, which killed six service members.
Erin O'Toole is going back to where he started. The Conservative leader is set to travel to Calgary, where the Ontario MP kicked off his bid to win leadership of the federal party in its heartland in January last year.
