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 fire chief says several people were rescued from a building where smoke billowed out the windows in Vancouver's Gastown neighbourhood today. Fire Chief Karen Fry posted a short video on Twitter of fire crews dousing the top floor of a four-storey building with water.
AbbyPD Patrol Officers responded to the 1700 block of Clearbrook Road for a report of a female lying on the roadway. Upon arrival, a 50-year-old female was located suffering from serious life-threatening injuries after exiting a vehicle while it was in motion. The female was transported to the hospital by air ambulance.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the new measures impose restrictions on 33 entities in the Russian defence sector. She says the organizations have provided support to the Russian military — directly or indirectly — and are therefore complicit in the pain and suffering stemming from Vladimir Putin's unjustifiable war in Ukraine.
The federal budget tabled last week placed a heavy emphasis on transitioning to the green economy, with new investments in critical minerals and metals, expanding the availability of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations.
The victim is being identified as 41-year-old Darr Khunkhun from Maple Ridge. Darr Khunkhun does not have a criminal record. The shooting appears targeted, but its connection to the Lower Mainland gang conflict remains to be determined.
The 69-year-old victim, who was wearing a bright yellow high-visibility jacket and walking with a cane, was walking through the crosswalk at Thurlow and Alberni around 11 a.m. on March 31, when he was punched in the stomach by a stranger. The suspect fled the area before police arrived. The victim did not suffer physical injuries.
