Though many others have already asked you questions on this, I will also ask you a question on Taser guns.
There are two things that concern me. I was Minister of Public Safety when we began thinking about using Taser guns. At the time, we were told that this was a weapon which would save lives, since the police could use it before using firearms when there was a good reason for using those. Other people testified before the committee but told us that this was no longer how it was being used. The Taser gun can replace the nightstick very well and make arrests easier.
What is the policy on Taser guns? Does the RCMP consider the Taser gun a last-resort weapon, to be used just before a firearm would be?
Moreover, in the literature we read and the testimony we heard, it seems that most people who have died as a result of Taser gun use were suffering from excited delirium. Even though psychiatry books make no mention of excited delirium, it remains that Taser gun advocates prefer to cite excited delirium as the cause of death.
What are the symptoms of excited delirium? How can one recognize those symptoms before deciding what weapon to use, since one cannot order a medical examination before the person in question is arrested? One of the symptoms of excited delirium is extreme agitation, making the people suffering from it very difficult to subdue. If someone is suffering from delirium, then using a Taser gun would not be appropriate. I would like you to explain the RCMP's policy in those two cases.
Is the Taser gun genuinely a weapon of last resort, or rather of next-to-last resort, just before a firearm? According to RCMP Taser gun use protocol, or directives, should someone who is highly agitated not be subjected to a Taser gun jolt?