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 interim suspension order, effective March 24 but posted on the college's website on Monday, affects Dr. Stephen Malthouse, a family practitioner on Denman Island.
Karina Gould says the legislation would also put into law the principles that provinces and territories agreed to in funding agreements, including to cut parent fees and create more spaces.
There are 288 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 48 are in intensive care. In the past 72 hours, six new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,989.
Prior to the talks with Russia, Zelenskyy also said he was open to compromise on the future of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which the Kremlin has claimed as its territory and where eight years of fighting prior to the recent Russian invasion left 14,000 dead.
Applications opened March 17 for a program to allow an unlimited number of Ukrainians fleeing war in their home country to come to Canada for up to three years while they decide whether they want to apply for permanent residency.
Randy Narine, a Brampton firefighter who said he is related to the family, identified the parents who died Monday as Nazir Ali, 28, and Raven Alisha Ali-O’dea, 29. He identified the children who lost their lives as Layla Rose Ali-O’dea, Jayden Prince Ali-O’dea and Alia Marilyn Ali-O’dea.
