Families let down by Tories' Air India silence: lawyer

Ottawa: Many families of victims who died in the 1985 Air India bombing are disappointed with the federal government's near-silence since a June report called for compensation, says a lawyer close to the process.
Norm Boxall, former co-counsel for dozens of families who lost loved ones, says discouragement has replaced the high hopes of four months ago.
"I've spoken to a number of families that expressed frustration," Boxall said in an interview.
The hefty inquiry report by former Supreme Court Justice John Major catalogued a litany of federal failures before and after the terrorist attack, which killed 329 people, most of them Canadians.
Police believe Sikh extremists fighting for an independent homeland blew up the airplane off the coast of Ireland.
Last spring, Prime Minister Stephen Harper immediately met with family members of victims and signalled an intention to act on Major's recommendations of an apology and a one-time payment.
"Issues are raised about an official apology and compensation for families of victims," Harper told reporters at the time. "Let me be clear, unequivocally, that the government will respond positively to those recommendations."
Though an apology came, there has been no action on Major's suggestion that an arm's-length body be created to recommend an appropriate payment to family members.
"It's disappointing," Boxall said. "The creation of the independent body, on the surface of it to me, doesn't seem that complicated."
16/10/10 CTV, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Oct 2010, Foreign Oct 2010, NACIL Oct 2010, Safety Oct 2010