Border agency to give details in airport Taser death

The Canada Border Services Agencyis expectedtoface tough questionsat a news conference Monday about the circumstances surrounding the death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport last month.

Border Services officials are expected to give their account of an alleged communication breakdown on Oct. 14 in the hours before Robert Dziekanski's death.

Dziekanski died just minutes after he was given two Taser jolts and pinned down by four RCMP officers at the airport.

The 40-year-old, who did not speak fluent English, became agitated afterlanguishing forhours in a secure customs area as his mother fruitlessly tried to get help finding him from the public side.

The incident, which wascaptured on video by a witness, hassparked fierce debate over the officers' actions and the use of Tasers by law enforcementagenciesacross the country.

It is unclear where Dziekanskiwas duringhis 10hours at the airport, what he wasdoing and why no translators or airport staff were on hand to assist him.

Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj,who represents Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski,told CBC News on Monday that after confirming Dziekanski's flight had arrived, a companion who had driven her to the airport was told by a CBSA official thatthere was no record of aPolish immigrant arriving that day.

"He was told that without breaching any confidence, there were no Polish immigrants there today and that they should go home, that he wasn't there," Kosteckyjsaid.

The companion said the conversation lasted four or five minutes and the border services official wasn't interested inchecking Dziekanski'sname,Kosteckyj added.

The exchangeprompted Cisowski to returnto her home inKamloops, B.C.,believing her son had missed his flight.

At least seveninvestigations, includinga provincial inquiry and aHouse of Commons public safety committee investigation,have beencalled to probe Dziekanski's death or the use of Tasers since last month.