Learn from YVR death

Editorial

The death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport Oct. 14 was a tragedy and much, much more.

The implications from this tragic death are innumerable, as we will see as the repercussions ripple out of a homicide investigation, a probable coroner's inquest and, as announced Monday, a provincial public inquiry.

First and foremost, of course, is the implication for Dziekanski's family. The Polish man was moving to British Columbia to be with his mother. It was to be a new life, like generations of new Canadians have sought in a land of opportunity. The loss of his life is a personal tragedy for his family and this should never be lost amid the broader implications.

But the broader implications are, and should be, massive. Where do we begin? The use of force by police is always an area of imprecision. Too little force can lead to dead police or civilians. Too much force and, well....

It is worth remembering that two RCMP officers have been killed in the line of duty in the past weeks – one before and one after the Dziekanski death – but whatever jumpiness these deaths may have instilled in officers, could hardly explain their overreaction to a clearly unarmed man in a secured area of an airport. (Dziekanski was throwing office items around and was reportedly carrying a stapler.)

The use of Tasers, a relatively new instrument that blasts 50,000-volt shocks through people, is controversial. Several deaths have occurred after their use, sometimes apparently caused by secondary factors, such as preexisting heart conditions. The use of Tasers will be reviewed, as it must, in the coming days. Meanwhile, some public safety officials are warning against an over-reaction, insisting that Tasers, in the long run, may save lives by reducing the requirement of officers to resort to firearms. This too should be considered in the fullness of public inquiries.

But while there are undoubtedly contexts we cannot see in the time leading up to the 10-minute video that has flashed around the world, the haste with which the four officers resorted to the Taser, followed by its repeated use and the dog-piling on Dziekanski that followed, raises very serious questions about the judgment of these officers and the training of RCMP officers collectively.

There is already a disquieting litany of allegations against the national police, including numerous involving alleged violence and physical abuse by officers, as well as institutional abuses (including pension plan corruption that helped lead to the resignation of the former head of the RCMP last year). The RCMP is alleged to have blocked an investigation into their own officers, accused of abusing boys at a youth centre in New Brunswick. And it was, of course, the RCMP that provided information to U.S. authorities, which led Canadian Maher Arar to be sent to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. But far more disturbing than all of this, is a series of deaths connected to RCMP officers, that have resulted in what many Canadians would probably consider, insufficiently thorough investigations.

The deaths of two British Columbians – Kevin St. Arnaud and Ian Bush – when in custody, have been mishandled by the RCMP. In these and other cases, the RCMP has insisted their officers have acted in full propriety, when evidence (including, in the St. Arnaud case, the contradictory testimony of the other officer at the scene) suggests further investigation is merited.

Which should make us wonder: what if Paul Pritchard, the young British Columbian who recorded the death of Dziekanski, had not been there or had not recorded the tragedy? It would have been the word of the police against the word of the witnesses.

Public outcry will ensure the RCMP's role in the Dziekanski death will be thoroughly investigated, but what about the events of the previous six to 10 hours? Dziekanski reportedly spent hours hopelessly wandering the international arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Even leaving aside the tragedy that followed, questions deserve answers about the practical operations of the airport. That an increasingly distraught individual was ignored or dismissed for half a day in such a location seems inconceivable.

Moreover, the apparent inability to locate anyone who speaks Polish – it's not like he was speaking Neptune – raises fundamental issues not only about the service levels and emergency procedures at YVR, it speaks to the broadest Canadian values of multiculturalism itself. After all, for all our pride and self-congratulation about our inclusive diversity, if a newcomer without English-language skills pleading for help cannot get even the most rudimentary assistance, what right do we have to call ourselves multicultural, to invite the world to our "Super Natural" province, to welcome strangers to the 2010 Olympics or to claim to be "the best place on earth"? These are a few of the many questions demanding answers.

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