B.C. must replace RCMP with provincial force, Dziekanski inquiry told

October 5, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The lawyer for Robert Dziekanski's mother says the B.C. government should replace the RCMP with a provincial police force.

Dziekanski died nearly two years ago at Vancouver's airport after he was shocked with a Taser by four Mounties.

In his final submission at a public inquiry into the death, lawyer Walter Kosteckyj says the RCMP acts as the provincial police force in British Columbia, but doesn't want to be held accountable to the provincial legislature.

The RCMP officers themselves have claimed the provincial inquiry has no jurisdiction over them.

And Kosteckyj says the government of Canada will make the same argument in its final submissions this week.

He says that's undemocratic, and the only solution is to stop using the Mounties in B.C. and instead create a province-wide force.