OTTAWA - Many families of victims who died in the 1985 Air India bombing are disappointed with the federal government's near-silence since a June report called for compensation, says a lawyer close to the process.
Norm Boxall, former co-counsel for dozens of families who lost loved ones, says discouragement has replaced the high hopes of four months ago.
"I've spoken to a number of families that expressed frustration," Boxall said in an interview.
The hefty inquiry report by former Supreme Court Justice John Major catalogued a litany of federal failures before and after the terrorist attack, which killed 329 people, most of them Canadians.
Police believe Sikh extremists fighting for an independent homeland blew up the airplane off the coast of Ireland.
Last spring, Prime Minister Stephen Harper immediately met with family members of victims and signalled an intention to act on Major's recommendations of an apology and a one-time payment.
"Issues are raised about an official apology and compensation for families of victims," Harper told reporters at the time. "Let me be clear, unequivocally, that the government will respond positively to those recommendations."
Though an apology came, there has been no action on Major's suggestion that an arm's-length body be created to recommend an appropriate payment to family members.
"It's disappointing," Boxall said. "The creation of the independent body, on the surface of it to me, doesn't seem that complicated."
Nor has the government moved on the report's call to fund an academic institute for the study of terrorism, which could help prevent future attacks and honour the memory of those who died.
During an appearance on a panel at a security and intelligence conference Thursday, Boxall said he heard within the last day that "a representative of the government will be meeting with family members in the very near future to update them."
But that's the first hint of progress after months of "deafening silence," he said.
"It is critical that these issues be addressed. Three members of the family group that I acted for passed away over the summer. Further delay is intolerable.
"(The families') ultimate views of the results of this inquiry will be determined by the action or the inaction of the government itself."
Transport Canada referred questions to the Public Safety Department, which had no immediate comment.
Strides have been made in the quarter-century since the Air India bombing, said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud and Raymond Boisvert, assistant director for intelligence at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who also took part in the panel discussion.
They listed numerous changes that have taken place in the security world, from a shift to countering terrorism -- as opposed to Cold War espionage -- to greater information sharing within Canada and abroad.
Michaud said the RCMP has learned a great deal from the families, and the force wants to ensure such a terrible attack never happens again.
The young intelligence analysts now working at CSIS are "highly motivated" in the fight against terrorism, Boisvert said.
Major's report also found the families of the Air India victims were poorly treated over the years by a defensive government.
Boxall urged members of the intelligence community to listen to the people affected by extremism.
"There are issues of national security, and you may not be able to tell them everything. But take the time to speak to them, empathize with them, and treat them with respect," Boxall said.
"Secrecy still has a place in security investigations, but everything need not be secret. Needless secrecy creates mistrust and suspicion. It's counterproductive."
