Meeting with Air India families raises hope of compensation

Federal officials will meet Friday with relatives of victims of the 1985 Air India bombing, raising hopes that compensation promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper four months ago will be forthcoming.
The meeting, to be held in the Toronto area, where many of the 329 passengers killed aboard Flight 182 lived, is expected to include “one or more federal ministers,” said Norman Boxall, a lawyer who represented families at an inquiry into the bombing.
“What I’ve been told is family members are going to receive an update, but I don’t know on which issues,” Mr. Boxall said. “I would expect the update to include what’s happening on compensation.”
Relatives of those killed in the bombing have been seeking justice for more than a quarter century. During a speech to security professionals last week in Ottawa, Mr. Boxall pointed out that at least three relatives of Air India victims had died since June.
That was when Mr. Justice John Major released the findings of an inquiry into Canadian authorities’ bungling of the Air India investigation.
The findings called for establishment of a powerful national security czar to mediate between the RCMP and Canada’s spy agency, CSIS. An investigative turf war between the agencies led to the mishandling of valuable intelligence before and after the bombing.
19/10/10 Anthony Reinhart/Globe and Mail, Canada

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