Another Canadian dies

Four years to the day after my brother Bob died (on June 23, 2004) - we've lost another Canadian.

Jun 24, 2008

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is probing the death of a 36-year-old man who died after being Tasered in a confrontation with provincial police officers.

Officers were responding to a call about a man causing a disturbance in Norfolk County yesterday morning. Police described the man as "combative."

A Taser was used to subdue him before officers took him to the Simcoe provincial police station, the SIU said in a release last night.

The man collapsed at the station and officers administered first aid until an ambulance arrived, police said. He died at Norfolk General Hospital.

The SIU is a civilian agency that probes cases of serious injury or death involving police.

The incident occurred just days after the RCMP announced it would restrict Taser firings.

Officers will have clearer direction on how and when the powerful weapons should be wielded "as quickly as possible," the Mounties said last Wednesday following renewed calls for action by the RCMP complaints commission.

A recent report on RCMP Taser use revealed that nearly a third of the people hit with Tasers needed medical treatment after.

Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died last October after he was Tasered by RCMP at Vancouver International Airport.