Until their arrests on Oct. 27 in connection with Canada's worst act of terrorism and mass murder, the two suspects in the bombing more than 15 years ago of Air India Flight 182 were formidable players at every level of mainstream B.C. politics. 

The calls to Perviz Madon's North Vancouver home began at 9 a.m. on Friday with the first rumours.  After more than 15 years, callers said, RCMP members were arresting suspects in the murder of her husband, Sam, and 328 other passengers and crew of Air India Flight 182. 

The bombing of an Air India flight from Toronto to Bombay on 23 June 1985 — killing all 329 people on board — remains Canada’s deadliest terrorist attack.  A separate bomb blast the same day at Tokyo’s Narita Airport killed two baggage handlers.  After a 15-year investigation into the largest mass murder in the country's history, two British Columbia Sikh separatists were charged with murder and conspiracy in both attacks.  They were acquitted in 2005.  A third accused, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted of manslaughter for his role in building the two bombs. 

"IN THE EARLY morning hours of June 23, 1985, two bomb-laden suitcases detonated half a world apart," began B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Bruce Josephson, reading a verdict that set two men free and left hundreds more shackled to a 20-year-old tragedy that now seems beyond hope of resolution. 

British Columbia Provincial Police had its origin in the police forces established in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in 1858 to provide law and order following an influx of gold miners and settlers. 

IN THE FEVERED DAYS following Sept. 11, 2001, media reports that some of the hijackers had entered the U.S. from Canada briefly raised fears that a Canadian connection would be a big part of the story of America's worst terror attacks. 

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was created by Act of Parliament in 1984 as an agency of the Department of the Solicitor General.  The agency's first director was Thomas D'Arcy Finn (1984-87), a lawyer and career public servant. 

The term "ranger" probably has its origins in the North American wars of the 18th and 19th centuries.  At the time, the land was heavily forested and armies developed special combat units of woodsmen and marksmen to carry out reconnaissance as well as surprise and diversionary raids. 

The Highway of Tears refers to a 724 km length of Yellowhead Highway 16 in British Columbia where many women (mostly Indigenous) have disappeared or been found murdered.  The Highway of Tears is part of a larger, national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.  In 2015, the federal government launched a national inquiry into these cases. 

She bears the burden of it still, more than a year after finally summoning the courage to reveal her terrible secret.  So call her Carol.  It is not her real name but it does offer whatever small comfort anonymity can provide. 

Maintiens le Droit [Fr, "Uphold the Right"], the official motto of the ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE.  The use of the motto by the NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE was first advocated in 1873 and adopted 2 years later. 

They took it badly, all four of them.  Pierre Bergeron, a 41-year-old veteran of 17 years on the Montreal police force, stood transfixed in disbelief for several long moments as he listened to the verdict, then finally sobbed aloud.