Canada denies racism in Kanishka probe

Dismissing allegations that systemic racism played a role in the way its authorities responded to the 1985 Air India bombing, Canada has said its security officers did all they could to head off the tragedy and then to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Toronto sociologist Sherene Razack, in a report commissioned by the families of the victims, contends that racial stereotyping may have led officials to disregard warnings of the attack and undermined their investigation.

But federal lawyer Barney Bruckere dismissed the study as a hastily compiled and selective collection of facts taken out of context.

He pointed to testimony indicating police and security officers took their duties seriously and did all they could to head off the tragedy and then to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Only one person has ever been convicted in the downing of Air India Flight 182 that killed 329 people.

A public inquiry under former Supreme Court judge John Major is reviewing the affair in the hope of drawing lessons still relevant to current anti-terrorist policy.