Monday, June 22, 2026
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

    Give the Gift of Dine Out This Holiday Season

    Give the Gift of Dine Out This Holiday Season
    Taking place January 16 to February 1, Dine Out Vancouver Festival features 17 days of flash-in-the pan events crafted by Vancouver’s top chefs, restaurateurs and food experts. 

    Give the Gift of Dine Out This Holiday Season

    Vancouver Downtown Shooting Suspect Arrested Minutes After Police Issued Warning Of Danger

    Vancouver Downtown Shooting Suspect Arrested Minutes After Police Issued Warning Of Danger
    VANCOUVER — A shooting suspect described by Vancouver police as armed and dangerous has been arrested just an hour after a warning was issued.

    Vancouver Downtown Shooting Suspect Arrested Minutes After Police Issued Warning Of Danger

    Retired B.C. Teacher To Stand Trial On Child-porn Charges In Early 2015

    Retired B.C. Teacher To Stand Trial On Child-porn Charges In Early 2015
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The trial of a retired teacher facing child-pornography charges will get underway in Kamloops, B.C., early in the new year.

    Retired B.C. Teacher To Stand Trial On Child-porn Charges In Early 2015

    Ontario man arrested in 1970s murders of two B.C. girls

    Ontario man arrested in 1970s murders of two B.C. girls
    VANCOUVER — Shari Greer made a promise to her 11-year-old daughter as she grieved over the girl's grave site that she would never give up the hunt for the killer.

    Ontario man arrested in 1970s murders of two B.C. girls

    Experts revise extinction theory as mastodon bones older than thought

    Experts revise extinction theory as mastodon bones older than thought
    VANCOUVER — Scientists who re-examined the fossils of mastodons that once roamed what is now the Yukon and Alaska have changed their thinking and now believe global cooling probably wiped out the ancient cousin of the elephant.

    Experts revise extinction theory as mastodon bones older than thought

    Digital divide: More doctors now keeping patient records electronically: survey

    Digital divide: More doctors now keeping patient records electronically: survey
    TORONTO — Long reliant on paper-based patient files, the majority of Canadian doctors have now moved firmly into the 21st century, using electronic medical records and other forms of information technology to run their practices, a survey has found.

    Digital divide: More doctors now keeping patient records electronically: survey