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.
Moderna says it's working on a submission to Health Canada for the approval a COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of six. The biotech company on Thursday asked U.S. regulators to authorize low doses of its vaccine for children between six months and five years of age.
Today over a dozen ceremonies resumed in person, after holding virtual ceremonies for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vancouver ceremony is at Jack Poole Plaza starting at 10:30 a.m. and is jointly hosted by the B.C. Federation of Labour, the Business Council of British Columbia, Vancouver & District Labour Council, and WorkSafeBC.
Vancouver police say they were responding to an alleged assault inside an apartment near Commercial Drive and Fifth Avenue. There was an exchange of gunfire with a man in his 40s and Const. Tania Visintin says the man died.
The Canadian military says nearly 1,000 members have been denied exemptions from the military's COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Vice-chief of the defence staff Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen says more than 1,300 members of the Canadian Armed Forces requested exemptions for medical or religious reasons.
Omar Alghabra's office says 42 tickets were issued, including 18 for non-compliance with vaccination requirements and 24 for violations of masking rules.
Councillors have unanimously backed a motion from Mayor Kennedy Stewart to hike the empty homes tax to five per cent of a property's assessed value, effective next year.
