The prime minister says his government did not interfere with the Nova Scotia mass shooting investigation.
Justin Trudeau spoke to reporters on Thursday while in Rwanda for the Commonwealth summit.
He says there was no undue pressure placed on RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to release information about the kinds of firearms used in the April 2020 tragedy to help push a future gun law.
“It is extremely important to highlight, it is only the RCMP, it is only police, that determine what and when to release information,” Trudeau says. “The commissioner’s statement and the minister’s statement were very clear on that.”
Trudeau adds he has confidence in Lucki as RCMP commissioner.
He says it’s also important to remember everyone was searching for answers in the days after the gunman took the lives of 22 Nova Scotians during the 13-hour rampage, which began on April 18th, 2020.
“I will highlight, however, that when the worst mass shooting in Canada’s history happened, we had a lot of questions,” Trudeau says. “Canadians had a lot of questions. I got regular briefings on what we knew, on what we didn’t know, and those answers continue to come out even as the public inquiry is ongoing. So families can actually learn what happened.”
The allegations of political interference arose during the public inquiry into the mass shooting this week.
Lucki has strongly denied those allegations.
