VANCOUVER, B.C. — There is a report that Taser International is poised to launch legal action against the public inquiry looking into the death of Robert Dziekanski.
CTV News is reporting that Taser International will go to the B.C. courts Friday claiming the inquiry is biased in recommending the company’s stun guns can be fatal and should be restricted.
Taser International lawyer David Neave tells CTV News that the inquiry headed by Justice Thomas Braidwood breached basic principles of fairness and fundamental justice.
CTV is reporting that Taser contends the inquiry neglected to enter evidence brought forward by Taser.
CTV says it has obtained legal documents that say Taser will ask the B.C. courts to quash large portions of the 19 recommendations made by the commission.
A number of police forces in Canada have already started restricting the use of Tasers in response to the inquiry’s findings.
Liberal M.P. Ujjal Dosanjh says Taser is merely using the lawsuit to intimidate its critics and protect its profits.
Dziekanski died in Oct, 2007 at Vancouver International Airport after being zapped repeatedly with a Taser and roughly pushed to the ground by RCMP officers.
Braidwood’s recommendations last month included crisis intervention training for all police recruits and current officers, especially when dealing with emotionally disturbed people.
He also recommended that officers be prohibited from discharging a Taser for longer than five seconds in most cases and that paramedic assistance be requested whenever the weapon is deployed in a medically high-risk situation.
And he called for officers to have an automated external defibrillator available whenever a stun gun is assigned to them.