Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Conservative MP Wai Young Makes U-Turn On 1985 Air India Bombing Remarks

The Canadian Press, 15 Jul, 2015 11:47 AM
    OTTAWA — A Conservative MP is backtracking on her claim that Canada's spy agency knew there was a bomb on an Air India plane that exploded in flight three decades ago, killing 329 people.
     
    In a late June speech at a Vancouver church, Tory MP Wai Young said the laws at the time prevented the Canadian Security Intelligence Service from telling the RCMP about the explosive device.
     
    Young told the service at Harvest City Church that, as a result, the Mounties could not remove the bomb from Air India Flight 182 before it left Canada in June 1985. The plane blew apart off the coast of Ireland, claiming the lives of scores of Canadians.
     
    She said the government's recently enacted Bill C-51 remedied the problem by allowing greater information-sharing between agencies.
     
    Asked Tuesday if she stood by her remarks, Young at first sidestepped the question, saying the government passed the bill because the threat of jihadi terrorism is real.
     
     
    "That is why this legislation is so important and necessary. I will continue to work with our government to ensure that Canadian communities are strengthened and protected."
     
    But little more than a half-hour later, Young issued a statement saying she "misspoke with regards to the investigation of the Air India bombing" in her speech at the church service.
     
    Young says she regrets the error.
     
    A federal commission of inquiry into the Air India tragedy did not conclude in its June 2010 report that CSIS knew there was a bomb on the plane.
     
    Rather, it said government agencies had significant pieces of information that, taken together, would have led a competent analyst to conclude that Flight 182 was at high risk of being bombed by known Sikh terrorists in June 1985.
     
     
    Young presented a different version of events to churchgoers.
     
    "CSIS knew, or heard, that there was a bomb on board this plane," Young said, adding that "strict laws" prevented agencies from sharing information at the time.
     
    "I don't know if you guys know that. Because they couldn't share that information with the RCMP, the RCMP could not act to take that bomb off that plane," Young said.
     
    The office of Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney referred inquiries to Young.
     
    In her June 30 speech, first reported by the leftist Press Progress blog, Young said the Conservatives were working "in the same vein" as Jesus by ushering in Bill C-51 and other criminal justice legislation. Jesus "served and acted to always do the right thing, not the most popular thing," she said.
     
     
    Her comments unleashed a whirlwind of mockery on Twitter.
     
    In the speech, Young also said she had stopped reading newspapers because "most of the facts in there are not factual."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Pilot Battling Wildfires In B.C. Interior Escapes Injuries After Single-Engine Water Bomber Crashes

    Pilot Battling Wildfires In B.C. Interior Escapes Injuries After Single-Engine Water Bomber Crashes
    VANCOUVER — A pilot battling wildfires in British Columbia's Interior escaped serious injury after crashing his single-engine plane into a lake while scooping water, says a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board.

    Pilot Battling Wildfires In B.C. Interior Escapes Injuries After Single-Engine Water Bomber Crashes

    Coroner Identifies James Butters As The Man Shot ByPort Hardy RCMP; Police Watchdog Seeks Witnesses

    Coroner Identifies James Butters As The Man Shot ByPort Hardy RCMP; Police Watchdog Seeks Witnesses
    James Butters, who was also known as James Hayward, died Wednesday morning near the intersection of Highway 19 and Granville Street in Port Hardy.

    Coroner Identifies James Butters As The Man Shot ByPort Hardy RCMP; Police Watchdog Seeks Witnesses

    Conservation Officer Called Killing Bear Cubs 'Needless,' Says Leaked Documents

    Conservation Officer Called Killing Bear Cubs 'Needless,' Says Leaked Documents
    VICTORIA — A conservation officer in British Columbia credited with sparing the lives of two orphaned bear cubs apparently told his superiors that his duties don't include the needless killing of a baby animal.

    Conservation Officer Called Killing Bear Cubs 'Needless,' Says Leaked Documents

    Canadian Nurse Fears Nepal's Quake Victims Forgotten As Need Remains Dire

    Canadian Nurse Fears Nepal's Quake Victims Forgotten As Need Remains Dire
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A nurse practitioner from Williams Lake, B.C., hopes Canadians haven't forgotten the victims of two massive earthquakes in Nepal.

    Canadian Nurse Fears Nepal's Quake Victims Forgotten As Need Remains Dire

    Showers And Lower Temperatures Forecast For Weekend Could Tame B.C. Wildfires

    Environment Canada is forecasting lower temperatures and the possibility of rain in Williams Lake, Pemberton and Nelson, all areas where fires have been devouring forests.

    Showers And Lower Temperatures Forecast For Weekend Could Tame B.C. Wildfires

    Mexican Soccer Player Pulled From Pan Am Team After Catching Chickenpox

    Mexican Soccer Player Pulled From Pan Am Team After Catching Chickenpox
    TORONTO — Mexican soccer officials say a player has been pulled from their women's team at the Pan Am Games after contracting chickenpox.

    Mexican Soccer Player Pulled From Pan Am Team After Catching Chickenpox