Canadian MP’s U-turn on 1985 Air India bombing remarks

Ottawa: A Canadian MP, who was last month accused by Canada's spy agency of knowing about the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight that killed 329 people, has backtracked from her claim, a media report said on Wednesday.

Wai Young, a Member of Parliament from The Conservative Party of Canada, on Tuesday night said she "misspoke with regards to the investigation of the Air India bombing" in her speech at a memorial service, Global News reported.

The MP for Vancouver South, in a speech at a Vancouver church last month, said Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) knew in advance about the bomb in Air India Flight 182 that was flying from Toronto to London. The flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after an explosion, killing all 329 people on board on June 23, 1985.

Young said the laws at that time prevented the CSIS telling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) about the explosive device and as a result, the police could not remove the bomb from the flight.

She said the government's recently enacted Bill C-51 remedied the problem by allowing greater information-sharing between agencies.

Young said she regretted the error.

(IANS)