OTTAWA-
RCMP say Jeremy MacKenzie’s arrest was not influenced by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s request that the RCMP look into comments about his wife.
The founder of the online group “Diagolon” was arrested Wednesday in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, on a Canada-wide warrant related to charges laid by RCMP in Saskatchewan in July.
MacKenzie has been charged with assault, pointing a firearm, mischief and negligent use of a restricted weapon after police received a report of an alleged assault near Viscount, in Saskatchewan in November 2021.
Poilievre said Monday he had asked the RCMP to look into “disgusting” comments MacKenzie made during a weekend livestream about the sexual assault of his wife, Anaida Poilievre.
In a statement, RCMP say a Saskatchewan-wide warrant for MacKenzie’s arrest was replaced with a Canada-wide warrant on September 21, five days before Poilievre’s request. .
The RCMP say the process to extend that warrant took nearly two weeks because Crown prosecutors had to collect documents from police in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 29, 2022.