Close X
Friday, November 1, 2024
ADVT 
National

Canada Must Guard Against Terrorism: PM Harper

IANS, 24 Jun, 2015 12:56 PM
    Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism and so "continued vigilance is essential", Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said.
     
    Harper made the remarks on Tuesday while laying a wreath in the Hall of Honour to mark the "National day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism" observed to honour those killed in the 1985 Air India bombing.
     
    An Air India flight flying from Toronto to London crashed off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board. Most of the dead were Canadians of Indian origin. 
     
    Sikh extremists were blamed for the bombing.
     
    Harper said he cannot "help but cast his mind back to the Canadians who perished in Air India Flight 182 and in the World Trade Centre attacks... and to the many terrorist activities foiled by the vigilance of Canadian security agencies.
     
    "The recollections serve as a reminder that Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism and that continued vigilance is essential."
     
    Addressing a gathering in parliament building here, he said it was a terror attack that killed the 329 passengers and crew members aboard Air India. 
     
    "On this sombre anniversary, we stand in solidarity with the friends and families who lost loved ones in that heinous attack and honour those lost.
     
    "We were deeply moved by this solemn tribute as well as by our meeting the kin of the victims," he added.
     
    Among the kin of the victims present was Susheel Gupta, whose mother Ramvati died in the bombing. Gupta said he regretted that his children would not be able to meet their grandmother.
     
    Meanwhile, a memorial service in Ireland was attended by India's Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and Canadian Minister of Justice Peter MacKay.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    66-Year-Old Woman Found Guilty In London, Ont., Costco Crash Which Killed Two Little Girls

    66-Year-Old Woman Found Guilty In London, Ont., Costco Crash Which Killed Two Little Girls
    A 66-year-old woman accused in the deaths last summer of a young girl and a newborn after her car smashed into a Costco store in London, Ont., was found guilty Friday of dangerous driving.

    66-Year-Old Woman Found Guilty In London, Ont., Costco Crash Which Killed Two Little Girls

    Special Prosecutor Charges Son Of Abbotsford Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas With Dangerous Driving

    Special Prosecutor Charges Son Of Abbotsford Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas With Dangerous Driving
    Crown appointed a special prosecutor to independently review an incident involving Ryan Plecas and another man after an incident in Abbotsford, B.C., in December 2014.

    Special Prosecutor Charges Son Of Abbotsford Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas With Dangerous Driving

    B.C. Cabinet Minister James Moore Won't Run In Fall Election, Cites Son's Health

    OTTAWA — Industry Minister James Moore is ending his 15-year career in politics and will not seek re-election. He is the latest in a string of long-time Conservative MPs bowing out for this campaign.

    B.C. Cabinet Minister James Moore Won't Run In Fall Election, Cites Son's Health

    B.C. Government Pulls Environmental Certificate For Controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort

    B.C. Government Pulls Environmental Certificate For Controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort
    VANCOUVER — Developers of a controversial billion-dollar ski resort that has been decades in the making will have "to start from scratch," said British Columbia's environment minister.

    B.C. Government Pulls Environmental Certificate For Controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort

    Journalist Continued To Attack Furlong After Initial Article: Lawyer

    Journalist Continued To Attack Furlong After Initial Article: Lawyer
    VANCOUVER — A freelance journalist's attacks on John Furlong were "sustained, continuing and unrelenting," even after she published an article alleging he abused First Nations students, his lawyer has argued.

    Journalist Continued To Attack Furlong After Initial Article: Lawyer

    Remains of U.S. soldier lost in WWII battle in Belgium to be buried in B.C.

    Remains of U.S. soldier lost in WWII battle in Belgium to be buried in B.C.
    TRAIL, B.C. — Seventy years after his plane went down in Belgium, a United States airman will be given a full military funeral in Trail, British Columbia, after his remains are returned to his family.

    Remains of U.S. soldier lost in WWII battle in Belgium to be buried in B.C.