Opposition BC United seeks to prevent convicted dangerous offenders from name changes
![BC United Leader Kevin Falcon BC United Leader Kevin Falcon (FILE)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/4/26/bc-united-leader-kevin-falcon-1-6863104-1719360362193.jpeg)
British Columbia's Opposition leader says community safety should come before protection of privacy rights for dangerous people.
The public should know who is living in their community, BC United Leader Kevin Falcon said on Thursday after introducing proposed private-member's legislation to automatically stop people convicted of dangerous offences from legally changing their names.
He said he introduced the proposed bill to amend the Name Act after learning child-killer Allan Schoenborn was recently permitted to legally change his name.
Schoenborn was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his children, aged five, eight and 10, whose bodies were found in the family's Merritt, B.C., home in 2008.
A judge ruled he was not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder after the verdict.
His new identity has not been made public.
His name change came to light when he asked the BC Review Board — the body that determines his custody status every year — to restrict publication of his new legal name.
The board denied the application, saying it would give Schoenborn until April 30 to seek a legal review of its decision.
If no legal action is taken, the board said it will use Schoenborn's current legal and former names in its reasons for disposition.
Falcon said the NDP government has the power under the current Name Act to prevent name changes, but it did not do that with Schoenborn, who has been held at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C., since 2010.
"This is a huge problem for the safety of communities," he said at a news conference. "And as I often say around these issues, when government balances competing interests, I put the interests of community safety well above the interest of Allan Schoenborn to have his name changed so that he can move around the community unnoticed."
Falcon said recently permitting Schoenborn to change his name is "not acceptable."
He said he fears a dangerous person could "show up in your community, perhaps even in a neighbourhood living in a basement suite across the street, without you even being aware because the NDP allowed his last name to be changed without anyone knowing what the new name is."
The Opposition's Name Amendment Act, if passed, would automatically prevent people designated as a dangerous or long-term offender under the Criminal Code from filing applications to change their name, said Falcon.
"Currently, Vital Statistics, under the Ministry of Health, has complete authority to deny any change of name application that is 'sought for an improper purpose or is on any other ground objectionable,'" Falcon said in the legislature. "This government failed to use that to prevent Schoenborn's name change."
Falcon called on the legislature to pass his private member's bill as soon as possible.
Premier David Eby said earlier he would look at the current name-change legislation because people should not be able to evade responsibility for criminal offences by changing their names.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6974342.1721750853!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Edmonton gas station employee found guilty of terrorism charges in the U.K.
An Edmonton man has been convicted of multiple charges under the Terrorism Act in the United Kingdom.
Laws that could get Canadians in trouble in Spain and other tourism hotspots
There are some laws in popular tourist destinations around the world that could land Canadian travellers in mild-to-serious trouble if they're not careful. Don't let these local laws land you in hot water during your next vacation abroad.
U.S. Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination attempt
The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job, according to an email she sent to staff, following the assassination attempt against former U.S. president Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.
Quebec mom devastated after man who killed her daughter in hit-and-run gets out after 5 months
A Montreal-area mother is furious with Quebec's justice system because the man who killed her 25-year-old daughter in a 2022 hit-and-run was released from jail after only serving one-sixth of his sentence behind bars.
Waterloo, Ont. woman out thousands for car totalled by stolen hit-and-run driver
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
BREAKING Polar bear at Calgary Zoo died by drowning following 'crushing' injury
The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has revealed the cause of death for polar bear Baffin last week.
DEVELOPING Wildfire near Jasper National Park prompts evacuation order and highway closures
Multiple wildfires in Jasper National Park flared up with a vengeance late Monday night, forcing all park visitors along with the 4,700 residents of the Jasper townsite to flee west with little notice over mountain roads through darkness, soot, and ash.
Keanu Reeves explains why he's always thinking about death
Keanu Reeves is aging like the rest of us. And for that reason, 'The Matrix' has shared, mortality has been on his mind.
Do you need a lawyer when making a will in Canada?
Many people believe that creating a will requires the services of a lawyer, but this isn't always the case. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew explains a lawyer's role when crafting your last will and testament.