Home Programs National security Air India review Lessons to be learned: The report of the Honourable Bob Rae 10. Recommendation

10. Recommendation

The Terms of Reference of the appointment of the Commission would have to be clearly defined under either Option 2 or 3. The focus of any inquiry should not be the conduct of individuals, but rather the answers to the specific questions set out above. My recommendation is that a single, independent commissioner should conduct the review, and that the terms of reference of the inquiry should refer directly to the need for a timely and efficient conduct of the inquiry.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each option. On balance, my recommendation to the Minister would be to pursue the second option, an order in council inquiry, provided specific assurances can be provided that full information and disclosure will be provided to the commissioner. If there is any doubt as to the level of co-operation being received from any government agency or department, the additional powers of subpoena can always be provided if necessary. Speed, flexibility, independence, and focus on the lessons to be learned should be at the heart of the design of the inquiry.

The Air India bombing was a catastrophic event in the history of this country. As Justice Cory pointed out in Westray, inquiries “fulfill an important function in Canadian society” as they “are an excellent means of informing and educating concerned members of the public.” ²⁵ However, in light of the questions that have already been answered and the legitimate concerns regarding excessive cost, length of possible delay and unduly rigid procedures, and the potential for lack of focus, my equally strong recommendation is that this inquiry should be seen as a policy inquiry. This will have implications for the inquiry’s make-up, procedures, terms of reference and approach.

Whichever model is chosen, the families should be provided with the necessary resources to have input into the inquiry.

I would also recommend that the government move with dispatch. Canadians need the assurance that the lessons from this act of terrorism have been profoundly learned, and are being rigorously applied to current public policy. They have waited long enough.

In closing, I want to thank the government for giving me this opportunity. It has been a challenge, first because providing public policy advice in an area so fraught with emotion and conflict is difficult, second because the intellectual puzzle shrinks in comparison to the courage and example of those citizens who lost so much. There is an Irish saying that at times the world can break your heart. That certainly happened on
June 23, 1985.

A few days before completing this report I was visited by a family member who left me a smiling photograph of an 11 year old girl, his sister, KiranJit Rai. She was killed on Air India Flight 182. He also showed me the letters his parents had received from her classmates at King George Public School. They speak of a young girl full of fun, intelligent, beautiful. They wanted to let her parents know that “the whole school is crying”. I have that picture on my desk to remind me what this has been all about.

KiranJit and 330 others were murdered by people living in Canada. They may have been assisted by people from other countries, but this is a profoundly Canadian event. Some of its perpetrators have been apprehended or killed; others are still at large. A twenty-year police investigation continues, and our search for answers, and for justice, can never stop. The inquiry I am recommending will not provide “closure” for the families or for anyone else. But it should provide us with further insight and better practices.