Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, to clarify with respect to vocabulary, Taser, of course, is a brand name. It's used in common parlance, just as many of us would refer to a tissue as a kleenex. Our policies call the device a conducted energy weapon, which it is, but the fact of the matter is that all of the CEWs in our inventory are Taser brand CEWs.
With respect to the standard, certainly the standard that is outlined in our policy applies to all of our officers in some 750 detachments across the country. I think the direction we have taken is the direction that the police community generally is taking, but I would not say that those changes have been universally adopted in Canada at this point in time.
And Mr. Chair, the issue of individuals suffering from mental illness or whose actions are as a result of the ingestion of drugs or alcohol is a huge problem for the RCMP—it is a huge problem for law enforcement. Unfortunately, many of the incidents we're called upon to deal with are as a result of mental illness or the ingestion of substances, and we have a number of examples where the use of the CEW has helped to resolve those situations without any serious injury.
Last evening I saw a report posted by CBC, the heading being “Sussex man supports RCMP use of Taser on wife”: “The husband of a Sussex woman who police subdued with a stun gun last week said the RCMP officers made the right choice during the altercation.”