OPP audit RCMP investigation into death of immigrant at Vancouver airport

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]to a CTV exclusive now looking into how the OP's criminal probe into the actions of top mounties was stymied when one of the Mounties notes couldn't be found.

[00:00:09]>> As John Woodward reports, those notes appear to have turned up through an unexpected source.

[00:00:16]>> The death of Polish immigrant Robert Jakansky at Vancouver's airport almost two decades ago prompted many investigations. First of the officers who used the taser on a man who was just lost and distressed and of the RCMP brass who were accused of dodging their own accountability for training that led to the tragedy. Looking into that, the OP called their probe project east.

[00:00:38]>> Investigation by the pro the country's second largest police service is a pretty substantial issue. Ontario officers exonerated top Mounties last year, but said they couldn't follow some leads because the notes of former deputy commissioner Brenda Butterworth Carr had gone missing, saying given her recent retirement and the rank she held with the RCMP, it is concerning that her notes could not be located. The official story is that those notes were long gone. But then something unexpected happened. The RCMP appeared to confirm the notes do indeed exist and they were in the Mounty's BC headquarters the whole time. It doesn't make sense.

[00:01:14]>> Retired Mounty Chris Williams requested some information in those notes this year. The RCMP wrote back saying, "Retired Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth Cars notebooks are in fact being held by the current deputy commissioner's office.

[00:01:27]>> It definitely uh questions the reliability of the very lengthy, likely very expensive Project Eastborne investigation that was done. If there was in fact evidence that should have been relied on by those investigators that was not provided, whether willingly or by accident, I think that needs to be addressed.

[00:01:46]>> The OP says they're determining their next steps and they could play hard ball this time, says former OP commissioner Chris Lewis.

[00:01:54]>> If in fact they think those notes are going to be used in a criminal trial at some point, then they should get a search warrant to get them. As the struggle to get to the bottom of a sorry chapter in the history of the RCMP continues.