Border agency's Taser report due by week's end: Day

A Canada Border Services Agency report on the circumstances surrounding a fatal Taser incident last month at Vancouver International Airport could be released as soon as Thursday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told the House of Commons.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said a Canada Border Services Agency report on the circumstances surrounding the death of Robert Dziekanski will be submitted by the end of the week.
(CBC)

"There'll be a first report from the border service agencies, we think, tomorrow," Day said Wednesday during question period.

The CBSA report is one of four probes, including a provincial public inquiry, into the death of Robert Dziekanski on Oct. 14.

Dziekanski died shortly after being stunned by a Taser and pinned down by four RCMP officers in the arrivals area of the Vancouver International Airport.

The Polish immigrant had been at the airport for about 10 hours and, unable to speak English, became confused and agitated while waiting for his mother to meet him. His mother, who lives in Kamloops, had waited for him for several hours before finally leaving the airport after she was unable to locate her son.

It is unclear where Dziekanski was and what he was doing during his 10 hours at the airport and why no translators or airport staff were on hand to assist him.

On Wednesday, Day rejected an accusation by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that the government has taken no action on the Taser incident because of a "vacuum of leadership" at the federal level.

"The federal government was the first to move on this particular incident, long before the tragic video was shown, long before there was one word of concern from the Liberals," Day said. 

"We asked for the review related to the Tasers.… We took action."

Taser reviewer had earlier concerns

The RCMP's use of a Taser on Dziekanski, which was captured on a video and broadcast widely, has been criticized in recent weeks.

Day's comments on the CBSA report came hours after the man chosen to review the RCMP's use of Tasers said he had been previously concerned the force was "too casual" in its approach with the stun guns.

Paul Kennedy, who leads the independent body that handles complaints against the RCMP, brought up the issue of Tasers in a report earlier this year.
(CBC)

Paul Kennedy, a former prosecutor who now leads the independent body that handles complaints against the RCMP, brought up the issue of Tasers in the annual report he published in June 2007.

"I expressed concerns that I saw [the Taser] being used in what I thought was too casual a fashion, almost as a come-along device," Kennedy told CBC News on Wednesday.

Kennedy's annual report, which was addressed to Day, reviewed 300 to 400 RCMP complaint files from 2006 and 2007 and picked out several themes, one of them being Taser use.

The report notes that Tasers are beneficial when they are used in situations where RCMP officers might otherwise have to use lethal force, like firing a gun. However, the report said there are questions about Tasers being used on subjects who might be unco-operative, but could still be handled with less intrusive police techniques.

"I think this is inappropriate," Kennedy said. "[The Taser was] being used in cases where I didn't think the behaviour was combative or resistant and required its use."

The report, which is published online, outlines one case that troubled Kennedy in particular.

According to the report, the RCMP were called to a house to subdue an intoxicated woman. An altercation ensued and police used both pepper spray and one application of a Taser gun on the woman, who was then handcuffed and transported to the police detachment.

When the woman refused to go into her cell, police used the Taser on her twice more, even though her hands were still handcuffed behind her back.

"Although she verbally refused to comply with the officer's direction to proceed to a holding cell, she posed no physical threat and offered no physical resistance," the report says.

"A second RCMP member arrived to assist and the woman was eventually put into the cell, but not before being threatened with another application of the Taser."

Names, locations and dates are not used in the report, for privacy reasons.

Kennedy's commission at the time ruled that the first use of the Taser was justified in the case, but the subsequent applications were improper. The commission recommended that officers receive more training on use of Tasers and that the force apologize to the woman.

'He's given me a very broad mandate'

Kennedy said that in the review he is now conducting he will examine the specific use of the Taser in the Vancouver airport incident, looking at whether policy was followed and whether that policy was appropriate.

On Tuesday, Day announced Kennedy would be reviewing the incident and submitting a report by Dec. 12.

Kennedy said Day wants the report to have a wide scope, looking beyond the specific Vancouver incident and examining the Taser policies and protocols the RCMP use across the country.

"He's given me a very broad mandate," Kennedy said.

"One of my goals is not only to improve policing, but it is to restore and maintain the public's confidence in police, because if you do not have the public's confidence, the police will not be as effective as they can be."