Many Afraid Failure To Speak English May Get You Zapped

Officials at Vancouver International Airport are combating an image problem -- namely, the fears of some travelers that if you don't speak English, you might get tasered.

Mark Yi, 36, recently flew from his home in Edmonton to Vancouver to meet his aunt as she arrived from South Korea, and then escort her back to Edmonton for a family reunion.

"She doesn't speak English," Yi told the Vancouver Sun. And that's the perceived problem for many.

As ANN reported, in October a traveler recorded video footage of four Royal Canadian Mounted Police surrounding Robert Dziekanski, then tasering the Polish immigrant after he became agitated. Authorities say Dziekanski loitered in the arrivals area for 10 hours after his October 14 flight landed, waiting for his mother to come pick him up after his first-ever plane ride.

Interviewed as the stood near an airport memorial for Dziekanski, Yi said he saw the video on the Internet... and had heard from friends people who come through Vancouver airport, and who don't speak English, may get a "hard time."

"I watched this [the Dziekanski video]," he said. "I kind of worry about those kind of things."

As he waited, Yi repeatedly looked to a video screen showing passengers as they entered the public area of the airport, and wondered aloud why the screen could not show images of passengers who were behind the secure wall. Airport officials said this type of system had been installed, but it was deemed illegal by Canadian officials.

Vancouver has now installed a system that allows a relative or friends to see behind the screening operation, and to announce their names on an electronic billboard to arriving passengers.

FMI: www.yvr.ca, www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca