Canada announces public inquiry into Air India bombings

TORONTO: Canada's new conservative government has ordered a public inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombings, in which 329 people were killed.

Country's former Supreme Court Justice John Major will head the "thorough and compassionate investigation," which is to begin immediately, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the Parliament on Monday.

The commission will hold public or in-camera hearings to determine whether authorities were aware of threat of Sikh terrorism and prescribe remedies to prevent such disaster in future. It will also examine circumstances that led to the acquittals in the case.

Announcing the decision in the House of Commons, Harper said this move would give "some comfort to the victims' families and Canadians a better sense of society".

The Montreal-London Air India Flight 182 crashed off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all the 329 people on board. An hour earlier, a bag containing bomb exploded at Tokyo's Narita airport killing two baggage handlers.

"It is a duty for every Canadians to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of such tragedy. We must sadly admit (justice) may never come to pass. But the vast majority of those who perished on Flight 182 were citizens of country,"
the Canadian premier said.

"They and their families came to Canada to seek a better life for themselves in a country with unlimited opportunity. The stories and the dreams of those 329 people were shattered by that terrible tragedy," Harper said.

Justice Major was appointed two months ago to recommend guidelines for an inquiry after consulting victims relatives.  The Commission, while ensuring that the inquiry does not jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigations, will examine whether there was any "systemic problems" in the effective cooperation between Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the investigation.

It will also examine the manner in which the Canadian government should address the challenge as revealed by the investigation and prosecutions in the Air India matter and whether Canada's existing legal framework provides adequate constraints on terrorist financing.

Both Harper and Justice Major have met with the families of the victims and discussed the terms of reference for the Inquiry.

"The families of the victims continue to demand answers that only a full public inquiry can provide into the senseless slaughter...As a nation we have a responsibility to ensure that we have learned from our past mistakes and that we are equipped today to identify and deal with terrorist threats before more Canadians become innocent victims," Harper said.

Welcoming the announcement, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai said, "it is a historic victory of people of Indian origin and citizens of this country who have been demanding for past two decades a full judicial inquiry into the bombings."