In a 42-page report released in Ottawa, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae has recommended to the Canadian government to institute 'a focused, policy-based inquiry' into the Air India tragedy.
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Rae had been named independent advisor to the minister of public safety with respect to the outstanding questions on Air India bombing and the report, released on Wednesday, is the result of his 6-month investigations.
Canada's Public Safety Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Anne McLellan, quickly accepted his recommendations and after consulting Prime Minister Paul Martin asked Rae to conduct the second stage of this inquiry. The Order-in-Council will be issued on Thursday so that the inquiry could start quickly.
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McLellan said, "I accept Rae's recommendations and it is mine and prime minister's intention to ask Rae, to conduct the second stage of this investigation and inquiry. We believe that the relationship that he has developed with the families... in the context of this (Air India) tragedy and the factual underpinning that he has worked to comprehend, will help him enormously and all of us to move forward in the months ahead so that we are able to answer the questions he has identified."
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In the introductory part of the report, Rae said that the inquiry he was recommending should deal with questions that remain unanswered like how Canada assessed its threat, how its intelligence and police forces managed the investigation and how its airport safety regulations did or did not work.
The inquiry may also deal with the question of financing for terrorist activities.
In his report, Rae came out with three options for the investigation:
- A government task force to ensure that the lessons learnt from the Air India bombing have been applied effectively to Canadian institutions and public policy could be established.
- The second option would be to establish an inquiry under the cabinet Order in Council with a clear mandate to report within a certain time with respect to the issues that have been identified, giving the commission latitude to decide what part of its work would be held in camera, and which aspects would be public.
- The third option would be to appoint a Commission of Inquiry under the Inquiries Act, with full powers of subpoena.
McLellan accepted the second option.
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She wants Rae to head the Commission of Inquiry and said that resources would be made available for him to be able to start the work. Besides, there would be resources for victims' families to actively participate in the inquiry.
Lata Pada, who lost her husband and two daughters in the Air India tragedy said she and other family members were hopeful that their demand for answers to the murder of 331 individuals would now be addressed.
"It was a mass act of terrorism and the question before the Commission of Inquiry should also be how can such incidents be prevented in the future. So, now it is time for us to get answers," she suggested.
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Rae said he did not recommend a full-scale judicial or public inquiry as demanded by family members. Their suggestion was to find out who committed this crime and to make sure they are brought to justice. Secondly, they wanted the commission to find out which individuals in the government and various police and security forces made mistakes so that they can be held accountable.
Lastly they wanted to establish what went wrong and ensure that these mistakes are not repeated, he added.
Rae concluded that an inquiry into the first two questions would be either illegal or profoundly ill-advised. So, to him an inquiry into the third question is in the public interest.
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The suggested inquiry, that the government has accepted, should find answers to:
- The government assessment of terror threat before the Air India bombing of June 23, 1985.
- The problems, if any, between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service before the bombing and after the bombing.
- The Working relationship between the two agencies.
- The Grievous breach of aviation security in the Air India bombing.
Rae repeatedly emphasized that the Air India bombing was a Canadian tragedy.
"Let it be said clearly; the bombing of the Air India flight was the result of a conspiracy conceived, planned, and executed in Canada. Most of its victims were Canadians. This is a Canadian catastrophe, whose dimension and meaning must be understood by all," he said.
Briefing the media in Ottawa after releasing his report, Rae said, "I have suggested the inquiry should be meaningful. I am trying to get to the bottom of what happened and to make improvements in real time, and that seems to be a reasonable and good objective."
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There were questions as to what role the victims' families could play and to that, Rae responded, "I think we must hear from them These people have to come forward to tell us what happened. We have long ignored voices of these people, who have been affected by these crimes."
The victims families did not get the public inquiry but they got the second best and that being a time-bound, policy inquiry that seeks answers to questions that remain unanswered.
Rae concluded his briefing by saying that two persons had been identified as part of the conspiracy. One being Inderjit Singh Reyat, who is now serving five years sentence on man slaughter after he confessed to have been behind the Air India tragedy, and the other former Babbar Khalsa leader Talwinder Singh Parmar, who was killed in 1992 by the Punjab Police.
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Two others, who were charged, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Malik have been acquitted of all charges by the British Columbia Supreme Court Judge.
"But the Police investigation is continuing into this tragedy," said Rae.
The term of reference for the Commission of Inquiry that Rae has proposed and McLellan has accepted on behalf of the Canadian government, would be set in the Order in Council that may be released on Thursday.
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