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.
The bill would make Canadian firms do due diligence to make sure none of their products or components are made in sweatshops that employ children or force people to work excessive hours for paltry pay.
Previous outbreaks in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada led to the destruction of millions of birds. The most serious was a 2004 outbreak in the Fraser Valley, where the H7N3 strainspread to 42 commercial farms and 11 backyard coops, prompting federal officials to order a cull of about 17 million birds.
Can you get a red light ticket as a cyclist? You bet, and the fine is the same as it is for drivers: $167. Failing to stop at stop signs, failing to yield to pedestrians, and disobeying traffic control devices are all ticketable offences whether you're behind the wheel or astride the saddle.
An agreed statement of facts said Jo was killed when Sydlowski sped off in a stolen cube van without paying for $198 of fuel. It happened outside Jo's Fas Gas station in Thorsby, about 70 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, on Oct. 6, 2017.
Irreversible Extreme Heat, penned by experts at the Intact Centre on Climate Change at the University of Waterloo, says "Canadian alarm bells should be ringing" about the risk of intense heat.
