Home Programs National security Air India review Lessons to be learned: The report of the Honourable Bob Rae 1. Introduction

1. Introduction

This report was prepared at the request of Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. After Justice Josephson of the British Columbia Supreme Court acquitted two individuals accused of the bombing in March of 2005, I was appointed to provide independent advice to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on whether there remain outstanding questions of public interest with respect to the bombing of Air India Flight 182 that can still be answered. The specific Terms of Reference of my appointment are set out as Appendix 1 of this document. This report is not a definitive account of every event related to the Air India disaster but rather an assessment of the issues that need to be examined more fully.

I have listened to the deep concerns of the families. The acquittal of Ripudaman Singh Malik (Malik) and Ajaib Singh Bagri (Bagri) brought many memories flooding back. It also aroused again the sense of grief, anger, and frustration which they experienced from that moment in June of 1985, when they realized that their loved ones had been killed. There are issues about the response of Canadian government agencies to the bombing which clearly warrant further review.

Not all of these issues should be the focus of an inquiry, because they are very broad, and some are already the subject of widespread public debate. As Justice Josephson determined in his Reasons for Judgment, the conspiracy to bomb the two Air India flights involved individuals belonging to what became known as the Babbar Khalsa movement, a group of Sikh radicals determined to “purify” the Sikh religion and establish an independent homeland for Sikhs in Punjab, India. The families told me that they believe Canada must do more to deal with forces of extremism, even hatred, within communities that have made this country their home. They believe that Canada’s politicians have not been sufficiently sensitive to the risks of festering solitudes within communities breaking out into violence.

They pointed to the evidence of a culture of fear within communities that has stopped people telling the truth about what happened. Two potential witnesses in the Malik and Bagri trials were killed. These murders, while still under active investigation, have not yet led to criminal charges. Kim Bolan, a reporter with the Vancouver Sun, has written a recent book on Air India that documents many efforts at silencing and intimidating her and others in the Sikh community critical of extremism. In the course of my work I encountered many in the Sikh community deeply troubled by threats of violence, the past misuse of Gurdwaras (temples) for political purposes and the abuse of charitable fundraising for extremist causes.

These issues are not unique to any one community. To make them the subject of a public inquiry would be a vast and unmanageable exercise. But they need to be the subject of continuing government review and action. Canadians should be able to express their opinions without fear of intimidation. Charitable organizations should not be abused. The law in these matters is clear enough. It should be enforced.

The wide debate that has engulfed many countries about the potential for terrorist attacks has, very naturally, deeply affected those whose lives have been shattered by the Air India bombing. They quite naturally ask why it took 9/11 to galvanize opinion, to introduce the Anti-Terrorism Act, to list certain terrorist groups. Quite naturally, they ask why the bombing of Air India Flight 182 did not move the Canadian government to act more decisively against the threat of terrorism. This is not so much a subject for an inquiry as it is for a deeper searching in which all Canadians, and their political leaders need to engage. Why did the murder of 331 people not do more to shake our complacency?

The families have also expressed their deep hurt at their isolation from their fellow Canadians. There was little recognition of their loss. The civil lawsuit dragged on for some years, until being settled in 1991. Emotional and psychological support was hard to find. Canadians did not embrace this disaster as their own.

Twenty years after the bombing, and with the support of the B.C. Attorney General, family members produced a book of memorial to their loved ones. It is impossible to open the book at any page and not feel the deepest sense of loss and hurt. Whole families — children of promise, parents of achievement and kindness — were murdered. What happened was not an accident. No conflict in any homeland, no religious or ethnic dispute, no ideology can justify what happened. Many Canadians think that it was “9/11” that initiated us into the modern world of terrorism. It should have been June 23, 1985.

I must report that there is, to this day, a deep-seated conviction among the families that “Canada still doesn’t get it”, that in the debate on terrorism, freedom, and security, the balance of opinion does not and has never truly absorbed or taken into account the brutal reality of a mass murder conceived and executed in Canada. At times some family members expressed to me the thought that if their skins were white the post-bombing experience of the country might have been different. I found no evidence of racism on the part of anyone in a position of authority. The mistakes in the investigation cannot be traced to any such bias. But Canadians have to ask themselves — have we taken this tragedy seriously enough, and have we fully understood its lessons for our country?

The families’ concerns also extend to the conduct of criminal trials in cases of this kind. Some have suggested that a panel of three judges would be more appropriate. While I have not suggested this as a specific question for the inquiry, it is certainly an issue worthy of study and discussion.

The Air India Review Secretariat has spent time in the last few months working with family members on issues of memorial and remembrance. The Prime Minister’s meeting with the families, the trip to Ireland by political leaders, the decision to declare June 23 a national day of mourning in perpetuity out of respect for the families, and the plans to build memorials in different parts of the country — these are all worthy and necessary. They are not a substitute for an inquiry. But they are important steps in righting wrongs and providing recognition. Attention must be paid. These lives should not be lost in vain.