Wife of dead officer says RCMP made her husband ‘scapegoat’ in Dziekanski death
Posted July 30, 2015 5:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The wife of an RCMP officer who killed himself two years ago claims that her husband was used by the Mounties a scapegoat in the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver’s airport in October 2007.
In a statement of claim filed in BC Supreme Court, Sheila Lemaitre says her husband, Pierre, was told he would lose his job if he tried to correct misinformation given to the media about the night Dziekanski died.
The sergeant was the media relations officer who released information about the incident where the Polish immigrant was jolted with a police Taser and died on the floor of the arrivals area.
The lawsuit claims Lemaitre wanted to correct the information, but was ordered not to and as a result was accused by the public as being the “RCMP liar” and the “RCMP spin doctor.”
The statement says the RCMP knew Lemaitre was under extreme psychological distress caused by the negligence of the force and that it could result in his becoming suicidal.
None of the allegations have been proven in court, and no specific dollar figure is mentioned in the lawsuit, but the statement says the family is seeking damages from both the Federal Attorney General and the BC Ministry of Justice that are liable for the RCMP actions.
