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.
In a new letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, several high-profile groups call instead for countrywide measures to phase out the private ownership of handguns.
Dr. Caroline Colijn, a mathematician and epidemiologist at Simon Fraser University, said there are currently "too many infections" in Canada to expand access to PCR tests to everyone to find out the true number of infections.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has a record of 49 student deaths there. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report called the George Gordon school one of the worst run in the entire residential school system.
10-Year Priorities, TransLink is proposing an expansion of the SkyTrain network, an unprecedented increase in local bus service, and introducing high-capacity Bus Rapid Transit.
Over the last year, Langley RCMP has attended one property in Willoughby 27 times! These calls for service were very rarely minor in nature and included a shooting, a home invasion, drugs and weapons. Virtually every team within Langley RCMP as well as some integrated units attended the residence to deal with issues arising.
The decision from a three-member panel released Tuesday, overturns a lower-court ruling that dismissed the application filed in 2016 by former WestJet employee Mandalena Lewis.
