Braidwood's final report in gov't hands

mAY 21, 2010
By Suzanne Fournier, The Province

Thomas Braidwood's long-awaited final report on the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport has been delivered to government.

But the public will have to wait at least a month to read the report from Braidwood's inquiry -- and may never get to see parts that could be excised for "privacy" reasons.

B.C. Attorney-General Michael de Jong accepted the report Thursday from ex-Supreme Court justice Braidwood, whose findings for the inquiry's second phase focus on the October 2007 death of Dziekanski at the airport.

Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, attended much of the second phase of the hearings, although she left during viewings of a video shot by Paul Pritchard of her son's death in RCMP custody.

Braidwood's goal in the second phase was to "provide Dziekanski's family and the public with a complete record of the circumstances of his death."

Cisowski recently accepted an apology by B.C. RCMP brass, and an undisclosed financial settlement, in return for dropping her planned civil suit against the RCMP and the federal government. However, the B.C. Court of Appeal earlier ruled that Braidwood is free to make findings of misconduct against the four Mounties involved in Dziekanski's death.

The first phase of Braidwood's inquiry into the use of " conducted-energy weapons," or Tasers, in B.C. was released in July, 2009. Dave Townsend, spokesman for the attorney-general, said the second report likely won't be released until a year after the first report, in mid-July 2010.

After cabinet views the document, it must be vetted by B.C.'s privacy commissioner.