RCMP official meets Air India families

Vancouver: The head of the RCMP in B.C. traveled across Canada this weekend to explain to families of the Air India victims how devastating the loss of special provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act will be on the continuing investigation.
But Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass also told relatives in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal that his Air India Task Force is committed to a successful resolution of "the most serious act of terrorism against Canada."
Opposition MPs united last week to vote down an extension of two parts of the Anti-Terrorism Act, including investigative hearings, which police had been preparing to hold in the Air India case for almost three years.
Bass said in an exclusive interview that he was disappointed with "the apparent lack of understanding of the importance of this legislation with respect to the Air India Investigation," especially given that investigative hearings were upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
"While I do not dispute that the vote on this critical issue involved, perhaps valid considerations beyond the Air India investigation, without doubt, it represents a serious and damaging blow to the interests of the families in this case," Bass said.
Using the hearings, the RCMP had prepared to call a series of witnesses believed to have some knowledge of the bombing suspects to answer questions before a judge.
05/06/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/ Vancouver Sun/Canada.com, Canada

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Categories: Air India Mar 2007, Foreign Mar 2007, Safety Mar 2007