Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan, under growing pressure to call a public inquiry into the deadly 1985 Air India bombing, met with a number of relatives of the victims on Tuesday.

McLellan and RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli met about 20 relatives at a Toronto airport hotel.

But an association representing some 70 victims' families boycotted the meeting, saying McLellan was not serious about getting to the bottom of the disaster that killed more than 300 people 20 years ago.

Rama Bhardwaj, victim's mother, says the families need answers.

"We don't believe that this government so far has been sincere in actually wanting to talk to us with an open mind," said Hari Venkatacharya, of the Air India Families Association, which represents about 70 families.

One relative who attended the meeting was unhappy, also. "No answers, we haven't got any answers," said Rama Bhardwaj, who lost her 18-year-old son in the attack.

"We want the culprits to be brought to justice. They are still walking around and they're celebrating ..." Bhardwaj told CP.

McLellan told reporters after the meeting, she was "committed to working with [the families] to identify the questions they believe have not been answered, and then find a process by which to answer them ..."

McLellan specified the government "hoped" in the next few days to appoint an eminent person, who was independent of her, to look into all the related issues.

The minister also stressed that the criminal investigation continued, saying: "Nobody should think this investigation is closed."

She also said she hoped to hold a similar meeting with victims' relatives in Vancouver soon.

Many of the victims' families have been calling for a public inquiry since Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were found not guilty of murder and conspiracy charges in British Columbia last month.

They have also asked whether racism could be behind the government's apparent reluctance to conduct a probe.

Late Tuesday the families got a boost from MPs in the House of Commons.

Members voted to support a non-binding motion demanding that the government call a public inquiry into the Air India disaster.

The motion was approved in a 172-124 vote.

McLellan has been unenthusiastic about a probe, saying she doesn't know if it can unearth any new information about the bombings almost two decades ago that killed more than 300 people.

Last Thursday, McLellan said she opposed the motion. She said she wanted to meet the families "as the start of a dialogue so that we have a good understanding of what questions remain unanswered for them."

She also announced that she would appoint an "eminent person" to review the Air India file to make recommendations on whether an inquiry is necessary.

But some of the families heaped scorn on her plan, saying the questions that need to be asked are straightforward. In particular, who was responsible for the deaths of 329 people on June 23, 1985, when Air India Flight 182 blew up off the coast of Ireland?

Families also want to know the role the RCMP and CSIS, Canada's spy agency, played in the subsequent investigations into Canada's worst case of mass murder, which also saw two baggage handlers die in an explosion at Tokyo's airport on the same day.

"What is the government afraid of?" Venkatacharya asked. "Why hasn't the government called a public inquiry?"