On June 23, 1985, 329 people, 280 of them Canadian citizens, died when an explosion brought down Air India Flight 182 on its way to London, England. The flight originated in Canada and crashed off the coast of Ireland. No one on board survived. 38 years later, few Canadians remember this, the deadliest terrorist incident in Canada’s history.
A new Angus Reid Institute study finds that nine-in-ten Canadians say they have little (61%) or no (28%) knowledge of the worst single instance of the mass killing of their fellow citizens, with three-in-five (58%) of those younger than 35 saying they have never even heard of it. In British Columbia, where the conspiracy to commit the bombings was hatched, and Ontario, where many of the victims lived, awareness is higher, but fewer than one-in-six in each province say they know a lot about the attack.
As some Canadians – evidently few – reflect on the 38th anniversary of Canada’s worst terrorist tragedy, the sense among many is that more should be done to remember the victims. Among those who are most aware, more than two-in-five (42%) say that Canada has not done enough. This is perhaps reflected in the low levels of awareness among the population.
Prior to 9/11, the deadliest aviation-related terrorist incident was the 1985 Air India bombing. The bomb exploded while the plane was off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 on board. A second bomb targeting Air India Flight 301 from Tokyo to Bangkok, originating in Vancouver, detonated at the terminal in Narita International Airport, killing two baggage handlers.
The intervening decades since the tragedy have seen numerous trials and investigations (leading only to the conviction of a single man in connection to the case), a public inquiry into the Canadian government handling of the incident, an official government apology 25 years after the fact, and memorials built, but yet the Air India Bombings continues to be a relatively unknown piece of Canadian history. Just one-in-ten (11%) Canadians say they “know a lot” about the incident. A majority (61%) say they know just the main details while three-in-ten (28%) have not heard about the Air India Bombings at all. Awareness is higher in B.C., home to the conspirators in the bombings, and Ontario, where the ill-fated flight originated. Meanwhile, more than two-in-five (46%) in Quebec say they are completely unaware of the event.
According to the survey, Canadians who were born after the Air India Bombings are most likely to say they had not heard of the tragedy. More than half of men aged 18 to 34 (53%), and three-in-five women that age (62%), say they are not aware of the event. One-quarter (23%) of men aged 55-plus say they know a lot about the incident, double the rate of any other demographic.
Those most aware of bombings are less confident CSIS, RCMP could prevent a similar attack. According to the survey, CSIS and the RCMP committed significant errors in the lead-up to the bombings and during the investigations after the fact. Besides the prior mentioned destruction of evidence by CSIS agents, both the RCMP and CSIS were warned of potential terrorist actions prior to 1985. CSIS agents had followed Parmar and Reyat weeks before the attacks. However, they misinterpreted an explosives test for a gunshot. The 2010 final report of the public inquiry by retired Supreme Court Justice John Major concluded a “cascading series of errors contributed to the failure of our police and our security forces to prevent this atrocity.” Canadians are split overall as to whether they are confident in the ability of Canada’s security services to prevent a similar terrorist attack occurring in Canada again. Those who know a lot (53%) or a little (49%) about the Air India Bombings express more doubt in CSIS and the RCMP’s ability to stop an attack like Air India than those who had not heard of the incident.
