Final report into Robert Dziekanski’s death released Friday
Posted Jun 16, 2010 06:25:46 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Almost three years after he was tasered and died at Vancouver International Airport, the final report from a public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski comes out Friday.
The inquiry, headed by retired judge Thomas Braidwood, looked at everything from Dziekanski’s dealings with customs and airport staff and raised harsh questions for the four Mounties who tasered Dziekanski less than a minute after approaching him at YVR.
The Crown decided not to charge them criminally although the RCMP’s Public Complaints Commissioner said the officers’ use of the stun gun was inappropriate.
Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Dziekanski’s mother, says he was very pleased with the process headed by Braidwood, despite some delays. “Whatever the results of the inquiry are, no one can quibble with the fact that the inquiry was thorough, that it was well-organized and that the number of witnesses and I don’t even remember the number, but it was an extraordinary number of witnesses that were heard over the period of time the inquiry was re-opened.”
Earlier this year, Dziekanski’s mother settled a lawsuit after the RCMP apologized, but Mounties say Zofia Cisowski knew the scope of their apology.
In April, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass apologized to Cisowski for her son’s death and the role force played in this tragedy.
However, in an e-mail the day before, Bass said the force wasn’t apologizing for anything specific the four Mounties who tasered Dziekanski did.
E-Division Inspector Tim Shields says Bass’s apology was not qualified. “Mrs. Cisowski was aware we were not apologizing for the specific actions of the officers, but rather for the death of her son.”
The e-mail is among documents centred on the confidential settlement the force reached with Cisowski.
