OTTAWA - The head of the Air India inquiry is suggesting legislative reforms may be needed to promote better co-operation between Canada's national police force and its civilian intelligence agency.
Former Supreme Court justice John Major pointed to the 1984 law that created the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as one area Parliament could look at, with a view to ensuring more timely sharing of information by CSIS with the RCMP.
He also suggested new legislation may be needed to limit the amount of intelligence material disclosed to defendants in criminal trials for terrorist offences.
Major acknowledged, however, that it could be a delicate task to reform the law while also respecting the Charter of Rights.
The comments came during a series of exchanges between Major and Henry Jensen, former deputy commissioner of the RCMP.
The inquiry is examining the 1985 downing of Air India Flight 182 by a terrorist bomb with the loss of 329 lives. Critics have blamed turf battles between CSIS and the RCMP for the failure to head off the attack, as well as for hampering the criminal investigation that followed.
