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.
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For now, the portal is designed to accept large-scale goods and services like housing, gift cards for high-priority items, transportation and jobs. Loblaws, Canadian Tire, Metro and Couche-Tard have already donated the equivalent of more than $400,000.
Three Canadian charter flights to bring Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion will depart Poland in the coming weeks. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says the flights will be available to some of the more than 90,000 Ukrainians approved for emergency travel to Canada.
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The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, which represents Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, is issuing a list of recommendations to Ottawa today warning that EV adoption isn't going to happen if Canadians don't have confidence in the network of charging stations available.
Multiple airports are reporting extremely long lines at airport security and border screening checkpoints while passengers say they are being forced to wait for hours — and sometimes missing their flights.
