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.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday that people over age 70 in the community, Indigenous people 55 and up and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable will also be included in a vaccination campaign that will ramp up through the spring.
Changes to the Transportation Act were introduced Tuesday, which the government says would allow the province to shape growth around transit, increase housing density and build connected communities.
According to New York police the assault on Nirmal Singh was unprovoked. Singh said that he was allegedly punched from behind on a Sunday morning walk around 7 a.m. on 95th Avenue and Lefferts Blvd. in Richmond Hill.
Just two days later, the same owner reported he had found what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail device inside his house, but the container had not ignited. Police say they reviewed video surveillance and arrested a suspect in his mid-40s who remains in custody.
A male victim was located and had suffered a gunshot wound. The victim’s 9-year-old son, who was in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the shooting, thankfully escaped completely unharmed.
When the officers stopped to investigate, one of the men tried to walk away and stash a bag inside a second car that was parked nearby. Officers discovered a 9mm pistol, ammunition, and a variety of controlled substances in that man’s possession.
