These morons are always screaming racism whenever they don't get their way. The fact that Canadians have spent well over $100M on this investigation is not even appreciated:
theglobeandmail.com
Saturday, March 26, 2005 Updated at 9:22 PM EST
Canadian Press
Edmonton — Demonstrators calling on Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan to hold a public inquiry into the Air-India tragedy were hesitant to say Saturday that racism is behind the minister's reluctance — but they wouldn't rule it out, either.
"The way this whole tragedy has been dragged on for years and years. Lingering questions are out there and when questions are not answered, people start speculating," said Amarjeet Sohi, the organizer of the rally by about two dozen Indo-Canadians in front of Ms. McLellan's constituency office Saturday.
"This issue of whether it's racism is in people's minds," Mr. Sohi added. "If there is nothing to hide, why not call [an inquiry]?"
Ms. McLellan, whose office was closed for the Easter weekend, has said she won't rule out an inquiry into the investigation of the 1985 airplane bombings that killed 331 people, two baggage handlers at a Japanese airport and 329 over the Atlantic Ocean, many of them Indo-Canadians. But so far, the deputy prime minister has said she is not convinced one is necessary.
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For Raj Pannu, an NDP member of Alberta's legislature who attended the demonstration, Ms. McLellan's response doesn't make sense.
Mr. Pannu, himself an Indo-Canadian, stressed that an inquiry would help ensure the safety of all Canadians.
"There are serious questions about where the system has failed," Mr. Pannu told the small crowd. "[McLellan] has simply tried to sweep everything under the rug. That's not good enough."
Calls for an inquiry began March 16 when Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted on murder charges, as well as on charges of conspiracy to commit the bombing.
Supporters say an inquiry could determine why investigators erased tapes that might have helped convict the two men, and might also figure out why the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had trouble collaborating on the case.
Mr. McLellan promised to meet with RCMP and CSIS officials, but has said an inquiry would not uncover anything new.
Bombs were placed on two Air-India flights originating from Canada — one exploding over the Atlantic and the other exploding at Tokyo's Narita airport.
Despite the fact Alberta has an image of being uniformly European-Canadian, the province's booming economy has long attracted immigrants of many nationalities, and four of the victims on the doomed plane were from Edmonton.
Pramjit Dhaliwal, who came to Canada 30 years ago and has lived in Alberta since 1978, said Albertans in particular have always been warm and welcoming. Still, he said he wonders whether the investigation into the bombing might have turned out differently if most of the victims had been white.
"CSIS and the RCMP are very intelligent. Who goofed up?" Mr. Dhaliwal asked.
Jadjit Sidhu, one of several Sihks at the demonstration, said Sihks are as eager to get to the bottom of what happened during the investigation as other Canadians.
"We should all pray for those people, and we should pray that those things should not happen again in the future," Mr. Sidhu said.
Last week, former Liberal cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal accused the federal government of betraying past commitments by refusing to call an inquiry.
Mr. Dhaliwal said pressure against an inquiry is coming from CSIS and the Mounties. |
