Robert Dziekanski enjoyed gardening, reading about geography and playing chess in his home country of Poland.
Despite efforts by RCMP lawyers to demonize him, he was a normal, working-class Pole, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother said Tuesday outside a public inquiry into his death.
Dziekanski's friends and neighbours have been asked repeatedly about his drinking habits and his lifestyle in Poland during their testimony at the inquiry.
It has been suggested by lawyers for the RCMP officers involved in his death that Dziekanski was an alcoholic who feared coming to Canada.
But lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who represents Dziekanski's mother at the inquiry, said it's not true and, in any event, it's not relevant to assessing what happened at Vancouver's airport on Oct. 14, 2007.
"I don't think at the end of the day it's going to make a lot of difference," Kosteckyj told reporters outside the inquiry.
"There has been this demonization that's been portrayed through various sources, including the original portrayal by the RCMP ... and so I guess it puts a different flavour on the kind of gentleman Mr. Dziekanski was and was known to be."
Magda Czelwinska lived a few blocks away from Dziekanski in Gliwice, Poland, a small city on the southwestern edge of the country. She said her friend was excited to come to Canada, the land of "milk and honey."
The 40-year-old Dziekanski spoke often about moving to Kamloops, B.C., to live with his mother, she told the inquiry by video conference and speaking through a translator.
"He told me he was going to Canada where there is milk and honey," said Czelwinska.
"He was very happy because he loved his mother very much and he couldn't wait to meet her."
But hours after arriving in his new country, after a long flight across the Atlantic and nearly 10 hours lost in Vancouver's airport, Dziekanski was confronted by the RCMP, stunned multiple times with a Taser and died.
Czelwinska said he planned to quit smoking to surprise his mother and wanted to learn English when he arrived.
Another witness has said Dziekanski was scared of flying and hadn't slept in the days before he left, but Czelwinska said the only fear he ever expressed to her was not having enough room in his luggage for his many books.
"His only concern was how is he going to pack all his books about Canada and whether he's going to have enough room," she said.
"He had a special file at the store where they were collecting all the magazines about Canada for him, so he had so many."
Dziekanski's friend, Ryszard Krasinski, said he would garden with Dziekanski and the pair would also play chess together.
"I would play quite often with him and just before he left, he gave me a gift of a portable chess board," said Krasinski, also speaking through a translator.
"As far as geography is concerned, he had a huge collection of atlases and other geographical material and he had very deep knowledge of geography."
Krasinski said Dziekanski was never aggressive and wasn't a heavy drinker, contrary to suggestions by lawyers for the RCMP officers involved in his death.
An autopsy found no alcohol in Dziekanski's system but did find indications of chronic alcohol abuse.
B.C. Crown prosecutors, who announced last year the Mounties wouldn't face criminal charges, suggested alcohol withdrawal might explain his erratic behaviour at the airport.
The inquiry has so far heard that Dziekanski had never been outside of Poland, but Krasinski said that wasn't true.
Gliwice is very close to the borders of Czech Republic and Slovakia, and not far from Ukraine, and Krasinski said Dziekanski may have travelled to those countries by car, although he couldn't remember a specific occasion.
Polish citizens don't need a passport to enter, said Krasinski, and it's not uncommon for people in Gliwice to take quick trips across the border.
Krasinski said Dziekanski also went to Germany at one point to live there, but only stayed a week because of a problem securing the flat he planned to live in.
