B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed

The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.

The move comes after an outcry over the revelation that Allan Schoenborn – who killed his three children – has legally changed his name.

A spokesperson for the victims posted to social media Monday afternoon, saying Schoenborn's new name is Ken John Johnson. 

Health Minister Adrian Dix tabled a bill in the legislature Monday proposing changes to the province's Name Act that would prevent people who have committed some serious offences from legally changing their names even if they were found not criminally responsible, as Schoenborn was.  

The fact that Schoenborn changed his name first came out during a Review Board hearing last month where he applied, unsuccessfully, to have a publication ban imposed on his new identity.

BC United leader Kevin Falcon tabled a private member’s bill in the legislature soon after, titled the Name Amendment Act. That bill, which has not passed, would have automatically prevented those who have been designated as a dangerous or long-term offender under the Criminal Code from changing their name. It would not have captured someone like Schoenborn. 

Schoenborn has been held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam since 2010. He was diagnosed with delusional disorder and told the court that he stabbed and smothered his children in 2008 to protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse. 

He was granted unescorted overnight leave for up to 28 days in 2022.

His Review Board hearing is scheduled to continue on June 25. Following that hearing, the board will publish his new name along with its reasons for judgment.