Monte Kwinter on Tasers

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
May 18, 2005

POLICE USE OF TASERS

Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): My question is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Minister, what are the provincial standards and protocols specifically governing the use of Tasers by police in Ontario?

Hon. Monte Kwinter (Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services): The member will know, or should know, that Tasers have been authorized for specific use in Ontario for some time. The only thing that has changed recently is that there was a particular Taser, an M26, and now there is a new and better Taser, an X26, and we've approved that for use. That is something that is available to police services across Ontario. They have protocols. They themselves have those protocols as to how they are to be used, and it's effective. We are convinced that they're less than lethal, and as a result they're a good alternative to a lethal weapon.**

Ms. Horwath: In Hamilton last week, police chased down a 15-year-old boy and shot him twice with a Taser. He didn't commit any crime. In fact, he wasn't even charged by police with any crime at all. When the police use Tasers on unarmed teenagers, frightened kids, don't you think there should be some Ontario standards for the police and their use of Tasers? Why haven't you developed any province-wide?

Hon. Mr. Kwinter: I can tell you that before we authorized the use of Tasers, we made sure that they were properly tested and that the proper procedures were in place. I cannot comment on a particular incident in a particular police service. That is something you have to deal with in that particular police service. I do not monitor the police services and their operation; that is the responsibility of the chiefs and their police services boards. All I can tell you is that in our ministry we evaluated the use of the Taser and we stand by our decision that it's a far better alternative than using a lethal weapon.**

**Yeah, only the taser is not being used in Ontario as an alternative to lethal weapons!

P.S. I don't know who "properly tested" your tasers, Mr. Kwinter, but the two tasers used on my brother were shown by an international testing laboratory to be 2.5 times and 84.5 times, respectively, more powerful than the manufacturer's specifications.