Air India families want terror response plan

Ottawa: Families of the Air India victims are recommending that the government development a comprehensive response plan to help Canadians impacted by future terrorist attacks.
Lawyer Jacques Shore said Monday that victim testimony from the first phase of the Air India inquiry proves that the Canadian government completely failed in providing assistance and support to the families when the plane exploded off the coast of Ireland in June 1985.
“The sentiment that the Canadian government’s response was woefully inadequate to the victims of the Air India Flight 182 bombing,” Shore told Commissioner John Major.
When victims traveled to Ireland to try to retrieve the remains of loved ones, there were few Canadian officials present to assist them and none spoke Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu though most of the families did.
Shore said that if there is another attack, the government should send a “rapid deployment team” with appropriate resources, including relevant language skills and expertise in grief counseling.
“It is recommended that a Terrorist Response Policy and Procedure document be developed to coordinate the government’s response at federal and provincial levels to a terrorist incident, in addition to contingency plans for Canadian consulates that specifically address response by consular offices to a terrorist incident involving Canadian citizens,” Shore said. He said more effective communication with families has to be established through a 1-800 telephone number, an Internet website and multi-media news releases.
Shore said the Air India victims’ families suffered for years, often without counselling.
17/09/07 Kim Bolan, CanWest News Service/Canada.com, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Sep 2007, Foreign Sep 2007, Safety Sep 2007