Stun-gun manufacturer Taser International filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday to try to overturn the recommendations of the Braidwood inquiry, accusing the inquiry of bias.
The Arizona-based company says the inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport, led by Justice Thomas Braidwood, was biased because it neglected to enter evidence brought forward by Taser.
In court documents, the U.S.-based company asks the court to throw out much of inquiry's report which was released last month.
"The commission breached basic principles of fairness and fundamental justice... both in its procedure and in the manner in which the report and its conclusions were reached," Taser International lawyer David Neave told CTV News in an interview at his Vancouver office ahead of the filing.
Taser International also alleges that the inquiry's findings were unsupported by medical science.
Neave says the company believes the stun guns are safe and the inquiry's rulings will place law enforcement and the public at greater risk.
Taser is asking the court to quash large portions of the 19 recommendations made by the commission. It is also asking for an injunction that would bar Braidwood from using the findings in any future rulings.
However, opponents say the company is using the lawsuit to intimidate its critics and protect its balance sheets.
"The Taser manufacturers are worried about losing profits... that's their sole motive here. It isn't about public safety, it isn't about whether Tasers kill or not. It's about how much money they make," Liberal MP and public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh told CTV News.
Police forces across Canada have already begun restricting the use of Tasers in response to the inquiry, which released its findings July 23 in a 546-page report. Some of those recommendations include tougher standards for the use of Tasers and a five-second time limit on the deployment of the devices.
The 40-year-old Dziekanski died following an altercation with four Mounties at the Vancouver airport. The Mounties used a stun gun on him for more than 30 seconds in an effort to calm him; he died of cardiac arrest shortly after.
"Those recommendations are based on incomplete information with respect to the medical and scientific information that was available and that we provided to the commission," said Neave.
Officials with the Braidwood inquiry have not offered comment to the suit.
There is a still a second Braidwood commission of inquiry yet to come, due to start in the fall. While the first inquiry was commissioned to make recommendations on the appropriate use of Tasers in British Columbia, the second hearing will provide a complete record of the circumstances of Dziekanski's death.
The lawsuit seeks to ban Braidwood from using material from his first report in any future reports.
With a report from CTV News' Graham Richardson
