Blamed and Broken by Curt Petrovich

Author:Curt Petrovich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2019-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

19 | LIARS AND COWARDS

THE LEAVES ARE BEGINNING to change colour as the second anniversary of Robert Dziekanski’s death draws near. A memorial bench bearing his name, tucked behind some shrubs near the international terminal building at YVR, sits largely vacant, except for the flowers and candles occasionally placed there by his mother.

Over the summer, Braidwood released his findings for the first phase of his inquiry, dealing with Tasers. No one is surprised when he concludes there needs to be stricter rules for their use, and that the provincial government has, until now, failed to set the standards. Police and Taser’s manufacturer had become the de facto arbiters of what’s appropriate and what isn’t. However, Braidwood decides a ban on the weapon wouldn’t be prudent. That being said, he recommends that Tasers never be used to deal with petty infractions like jaywalking or evading a transit fare. They should only be used, he says, to respond to serious incidents. Even then, Braidwood believes the weapon should be drawn only when someone is about to cause bodily harm and when no other less-harmful means will work.

The B.C. government agrees.

Now, however, Braidwood is listening to lawyers take one last kick at the can to make the case that the Mounties are either the malevolent monsters some have made them out to be, or victims themselves to a degree, having performed their duties as best as they could, only to be made notorious because of the tragic outcome.

Walter Kosteckyj does argue that the police aren’t the only ones to blame. “In the aftermath of Mr. Dziekanski’s take-down,” Kosteckyj submits, “we are then left to wonder whether a petty turf war between officials at Vancouver International Airport prevented Mr. Dziekanski from receiving medical attention minutes earlier than he did.” Kosteckyj describes Dziekanski as a “gentle soul” and “although he enjoyed alcohol from time to time he was not considered an alcohol abuser” by his friends.

However, Kosteckyj leaves no doubt that the ultimate responsibility lies squarely with the Mounties. “Even if it can be argued that Mr. Dziekanski was arrestable,” Kosteckyj argues, “the force visited upon him by the four police officers was excessive.” Going further, Kosteckyj says, “One is left with the further inescapable conclusion that the members collaborated between themselves” to mislead the investigation.

Not surprisingly, Don Rosenbloom puts forward Poland’s position that the Mounties acted with gross misconduct and that “Mr. Dziekanski’s death was totally unnecessary, totally unjustified. Put bluntly, Mr. Dziekanski was the victim of incompetence, misconduct, and a reckless disregard for his life.”

Mitch Taylor, the lawyer for the Government of Canada, delivers a submission that is the product of more than a dozen people in Ottawa weighing in on its contents. Canada, Taylor says, adopts the position that Dziekanski did indeed take a step toward the police before he was stunned. Further, to the extent that there was a delay that kept Dziekanski from being able to reunite with his mother, that was Dziekanski’s fault for disappearing for six hours. Taylor

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