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 British Columbia Prosecution Service says Susy Yasmine Saad entered the guilty plea in court on Monday to a single count affecting nine children, including one child who died.
At this time it is believed this was an unprovoked attack and the victim and suspect are not known to each other. The charges of one count of Aggravated Assault and one count of robbery against 30 year old Abdulkadir Hassan of Burnaby have been approved by Crown Counsel.
Also, 93.8% (4,058,015) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose, 91.5% (3,957,889) received their second dose and 59.5% (2,573,327) have received a third dose.
In the first three days of April, the police watchdog says it responded to six incidents, including two officer shootings, which highlights the significant staffing challenges.
A statement from Nanaimo RCMP says an on-duty officer witnessed the collision around 9:30 p.m. Monday and administered first aid until Emergency Health Services personnel arrived to take the pedestrian to hospital, where he later died.
Prof. Carolyn Whitzman, a University of Ottawa housing and social policy expert, says policy changes ranging from requiring municipal governments to approve more multi-housing developments to introducing provincial policies that make more government land available for housing could help the problem.
