Suprise, Suprise

TaserSo Robert Dziekanski’s mother has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the four RCMP officers involved in the tasering and resulting death of her son at YVR. What a suprise. Isn’t it standard operating procedure to sue, sue and sue some more when anyone (or their family) find themselves in the midst of a high prifile event punctuated with death, suffering and tragedy? Don’t we, the taxpayer who end up paying for most of these lawsuits in the end, expect the victim will receive large quantities of money for real or perceived slights or injustices? Yes we do. And therein lies the problem.

My perception of the Dziekanski incident is clear. A grown man is, for some unexplained reason, unable to make his way to the exit area of a major airport (doesn’t that ring a few bells?) and it tasered by four incompetent, overly aggressive cops and dies of heart failure. It’s obviously the fault of the cops for tasering before asking questions or trying to resolve the situation but why was Robert Dziekanski, a grown man supposedly in control of his faculties, unable to make his way out of the airport and why did he become so irate and begin throwing chairs? Is this normal behaviour? Have you ever been frustrated in a public and resorted to chair throwing and yelling? Nope, me neither so what was the deal with this guy. The situation was a combination of events that culminated in the death of Mr. Dziekanski. An unfortunate situation to say the least but why does it always come down to a cash payout?

From the beginning of the protracted Braidwood inquiry I knew that it would all come down to money and Mrs. Dziekanski’s filing a week before the expiry of the two-year statute-of-limitations didn’t exactly come of of left field. It’s expected and rewarded in today’s litigious society where every tragedy has a price tag. Her lawyer, Walter Kosteckyj, probably had dollar signs in his eyes from the beginning and knew there would be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and waited patiently for his cut. They’ll all get their money (lots of it) and this sad event will disappear into our collective memories. And that will define Robert Dziekanski’s life and death.

  6Comments

  1. Lexi   •  

    Its so sad that money seems to cure everything, worries, the death of loved ones. How does that ever come about…I’m going to get you where it hurts…your wallet. Is that even considered an eye for an eye…I mean since they are going for revenge. It’s clear his life came with a price tag and you kind of wonder….whats my price? It better be good!

  2. Cynic   •  

    I’ve said right from the start, why would she not check to make sure the flight was on time before she left Kamloops and then check and make sure it had arrived. Yes the police were overly aggressive for tasering this guy but why did she just leave the airport, instead of tracking him down. It figures she would sue, she already completely absolved herself of any responsibility.

  3. Johnathan Budgemunt   •  

    I believe that she is doing the right thing in sueing and I hope she succeeds. Essentially, the cops murdered her son. He was all she had. His life is gone. Her life is destroyed. It is unlikely that our cops policing cops system will bring justice. If the lawyer was not willing to take on her case, and I don’t just mean the sueing part but all he has done for her to date she would be without representation and would have been completely helpless, he deserves to be paid, and paid well as per the standards of his profession.
    This case brings shame on not just those directly involved, the police, and the airport, but all Canadians. This kind of brutal, fascist behavior on the part of the police has no place in Canada. Is this what we promise prospective immigrants when we try to lure them to “the best place on Earth”?

  4. Cynic   •  

    Sorry, Johnathan but this left wingnut drivel you’re spouting is the EXACT reason our country is going down the tubes. No one including obviously you is willing to accept responsibility for their own actions. How many people who read this have been tasered? You don’t go to an airport and start screaming and shouting and throwing things around. People expect cops to be superheroes who can either a. take 20 hours to calm somebody down or b. so super strong they can gently, carefully, nicely lower somebody slowly to the ground while patting them on the head and blowing them kisses. If my son was coming over here from Poland there is no way in hell I would just leave the airport without him. Period and that’s the bottom line. Also his mother knew he had problems with the police back home and should have anticipated he’d be his usual drunk obnoxious jerk self

  5. Mary Holegarth   •  

    Here’s my judgemunt on that left wing, anti-fascist, drivel spewing Budgemunt; The penalty for throwing a tantrum at the airport should be death, and there should be NO penalty for killing a guy at the airport, as long as it can be shown he was throwing a tantrum, and had been known to drink.

  6. Cynic   •  

    No one including me has said he deserved to die. But sometimes bad things happen to bad people. It’s a shame what has happened to this once proud country. Where people were respectful of each other and their property. I grew up with hard working, honest, law abiding people who respected authority and understood consequences for bad behaviour. This country is being destroyed by people who think everything is someone else’s fault. They can be a complete ass but everyone else has to be perfect. What a sad state of affairs when people who are incapable of logical thought and debate make silly statements because they can’t make a good point in a debate. You must be so proud.

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