The Air India Flight 182 bombing , which originated in Montreal , happened during Mulroney 's first term . This was the largest terrorist act before September 11 , 2001 , with the majority of the 329 victims being Canadian citizens . Mulroney sent a letter of condolence to then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi , which sparked an uproar in Canada since he did not call families of the actual victims to offer condolences . Gandhi replied that he should be the one providing condolences to Mulroney , given that the majority of victims were Canadian or lived in Canada . Many Indo-Canadians considered this to be a racist act because they felt Mulroney did not consider them to be true Canadian citizens as they were not of European descent . Furthermore , there were several warnings from the Indian government to the Mulroney government about terrorist threats towards Air India flights . Questions remain as to why these warnings were not taken more seriously and whether the events leading to the bombing could have been prevented . The Governor General-in-Council in 2006 appointed the former Supreme Court Justice John Major to conduct a commission of inquiry . His report was completed and released on 17 June 2010
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182
Brian Mulroney