VANCOUVER, B.C. – Taser International is poised to launch legal action against the public inquiry looking into the death of Robert Dziekanski.
Several media outlets reported Thursday that the company 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.
In an e-mail to The Canadian Press, company official Peter Holran would only say Taser International will go to B.C.’s Supreme Court to file an application for a judicial review of the Braidwood Commission.
Holran says there will be no further comment from the company beyond the contents of that filing.
Justice Thomas Braidwood’s commission of inquiry was prompted by the 2007 incident at Vancouver International Airport where four Mounties confronted, then Tasered Dziekanski.
The 40-year-old Polish immigrant collapsed and died a short time later.
Taser International lawyer David Neave tells CTV News that the company believes the inquiry breached basic principles of fairness and fundamental justice.
CTV reported that Taser contends the inquiry neglected to enter evidence brought forward by the company.
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 spokesman for the commission’s lead counsel said he was surprised by the court action.
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.
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.
