Cover Story

Reid Morden spy agency boss when Air India Flight 182 destroyed tapes discovered

Reid Morden, the Canadian spy working with Paul Volcker on the independent UN inquiry into the oil-for-food scandal, is the CEO who was at the helm of the Canadian Security Investigation Services (CSIS) when most of the 300 tapes and wiretaps, collected both before and after the 1985 crash of Air India Flight 182, were destroyed.

Some feel that the destroyed tapes and wiretaps were crucial evidence that could have led to a guilty charge in the trial of the accused on the crash of Flight 182.

CSIS, Canada's top spy agency, has always maintained that the destroyed tapes had no value, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were said to have seethed.

The destroyed, could-be crucial evidence is not Morden's only tie to Flight 182.

Morden is chair of Trent University's board of governors. Morden worked closely with Bob Rae, former Socialist Premier of Ontario on major fundraising efforts for Trent's building campaigns. Rae, who appointed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan special advisor Maurice Strong as Chairman of Ontario Hydro, was recently handpicked by Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan to consider whether Ottawa should call a public inquiry over the Air India investigation and prosecution.

Flight 182, a Boeing 747 aircraft, blew up at an altitude of 31,000 ft. over the southwest tip of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard on June 23, 1985. Some 60 children, under age 10, perished in the crash.

Waiting for a justice that never came, relatives of the 329 people killed in the crash followed the trial of the accused for 20 years only to hear of their final acquittal on March 16, 2005.

Justice Ian Josephon of the British Columbia Supreme Court found Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri not guilty on all eight charges each man faced–including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

In their joint fundraising work at Trent University, whose campus is located in Peterborough, Ont., Morden and Rae worked to help fundraise for the David Rae Memorial Award. The award, in honour of Rae's brother, is given to a student entering fourth year of any academic program who has demonstrated both academic excellence and financial need,

And that's not where the potential conflicts of interest between Canada's top spy and the ex-premier stops.

For five years, Rae was a member of the federal Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the body that oversees CSIS. Rae's SIRC post began on April 30, 1998.

According to the Weekly Voice, Rae is an insider "who knows the intelligence community well".

In the Air India mystery, questions about what CSIS knew about the conspiracy keep coming back to haunt the organization.

Morden has publicly insisted that CSIS was right to have destroyed the tapes. Morden also told the Globe and Mail that he does not believe any CSIS agent would withhold information about a crime from the RCMP.

There is mistrust in some quarters that the minority-status Liberal Government, expected to face a return to the polls in a non-confidence vote, is merely paying lip service with the Bob Rae appointment.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com