Friday, July 3, 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

    Five BC Teens Arrested For Attempted Robbery Involving Bats And Fake Guns

    Five BC Teens Arrested For Attempted Robbery Involving Bats And Fake Guns
    KELOWNA, B.C. - Mounties in Kelowna, B.C., are looking for a sixth teenager after arresting five others in connection with an attempted robbery involving bats and replica guns.

    Five BC Teens Arrested For Attempted Robbery Involving Bats And Fake Guns

    Vancouver Mother Convicted Of Killing Infant Sons To Be Sentenced Today

    Vancouver Mother Convicted Of Killing Infant Sons To Be Sentenced Today
    VANCOUVER - A Vancouver woman convicted of killing her two newborn sons is expected to find out her sentence on Tuesday morning.

    Vancouver Mother Convicted Of Killing Infant Sons To Be Sentenced Today

    Postmedia Pays $316 Million For Sun Media Assets As It Fights Social Media

    Postmedia Pays $316 Million For Sun Media Assets As It Fights Social Media
    The move will make the owner of the National Post, and a slate of other digital news properties, a significantly larger national media player and allow it to tap further into the struggling newspaper industry as it builds its online network of websites.

    Postmedia Pays $316 Million For Sun Media Assets As It Fights Social Media

    Officers seize 14 kg of suspected cocaine at Toronto Pearson International Airport: CBSA

    Officers seize 14 kg of suspected cocaine at  Toronto Pearson International Airport: CBSA
    The agency says officers who were monitoring the off-loading of baggage from a flight that arrived in Toronto from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Sept. 25 observed "anomalies" with one of the bags.

    Officers seize 14 kg of suspected cocaine at Toronto Pearson International Airport: CBSA

    With CF-18s poised for takeoff, Iraq debate leaves Canadians in a fog of war

    With CF-18s poised for takeoff, Iraq debate leaves Canadians in a fog of war
    OTTAWA - Canadian CF-18s will soon be heading off to war in Iraq, leaving Parliament and the public in a fog about some key elements of the military commitment — notably what efforts will be made to limit civilian casualties.

    With CF-18s poised for takeoff, Iraq debate leaves Canadians in a fog of war

    CP Freight Train Strikes, Kills Teenaged Girl in B.C.'s Fraser Valley

    CP Freight Train Strikes, Kills Teenaged Girl in B.C.'s Fraser Valley
    The B.C. Coroners Service says 16-year-old Tiffany Williams was walking on railway tracks in Maple Ridge early Sunday afternoon when she was struck by an eastbound Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP) freight train.

    CP Freight Train Strikes, Kills Teenaged Girl in B.C.'s Fraser Valley