A coroner's inquest into the death of a Polish immigrant last October at Vancouver International Airport has been delayed.
The coroner's service said Thursday the inquest would have to be rescheduled pending the completion of a police investigation into Robert Dziekanski's death after Mounties blasted him with a Taser.
The RCMP was called when 40-year-old Dziekanski became agitated after spending hours in the airport arrivals area trying to find his mother, who'd driven from Kamloops to pick him up.
Cpl. Dale Carr, of the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said the Mounties' investigation has been proceeding well enough to meet the deadline for the inquest that was set to begin May 5.
"It's going fine," he said. "We're on target. We feel that we're ready to go and have things ready for May 5."
The coroner's service also said Crown lawyers need time to review the police investigation report.
As well, the first phase of a public inquiry into Dziekanski's death is set to be concluded June 30.
Terry Foster, a spokeswoman for the coroner's service, said information from phase one of the public inquiry will be beneficial to the inquest.
She said the government announced the inquiry in February after the inquest had been called in November.
A coroner's inquest is a formal court proceeding that presents evidence related to a death, although it does not find fault.
Such inquests also offer recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future, but the recommendations don't have to be followed.
James Morton
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
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