Allan Schoenborn’s name change will not escape responsibility: Eby

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BC Premier David Eby says he will take a closer look at name change legislation and how it may or may not apply in the case of child killer Allan Schoenborn, after it was revealed this week that he had legally changed his name. and is fighting. to prevent it from becoming public.

“First and foremost, it is obvious to all British Columbians that no one should be able to evade responsibility for their criminal activities by changing their name in this province,” Eby said Thursday during an unrelated news conference.

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“That includes Mr. Schoenborn and anyone else. “When you commit a heinous act, you should not avoid it by simply changing your name.”

Earlier this week, ahead of a review hearing, the BC Review Board rejected a request by Schoenborn to have his new legal name removed from board decisions, although it did say Schoenborn should continue to be led by his publicly known name.

The new name has not been made public since it was changed.

After news of Schoenborn’s name change was reported Wednesday, BC United leader Kevin Falcon took to X on Thursday to call out the province for “helping” Schoenborn.

“This is outrageous! Why is David Eby’s NDP government helping this monster hide his identity? Name changes are provincial jurisdiction,” Falcón posted. “Schoenborn brutally murdered his three children in 2008. ” Who will be responsible for helping this heinous murderer change his name?”

https://x.com/KevinFalcon/status/1780996404116426859

In return, Eby cited British Columbia’s Deregulation Statutes Amendment Act, introduced by Falcon in 2002, and claimed that the Act allowed name changes to be made without them being public record.

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“And given these revelations from the Schoenborn hearing, we will seek to restore that,” Eby said.

But a BC United spokesperson said Eby’s claim was “patently false” and noted that the law did not keep name changes out of the public record, but simply sought to ensure that only “qualified” people could access private information.

“The publication of names was moved online… that online access was later limited to ‘qualified requests’ following the advice of an OIPC (British Columbia Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner) recommendation to protect women fleeing violence,” reads the statement provided.

“Vital Stats, under the Ministry of Health, still has full authority to deny any name change that is ‘sought for an improper purpose or is otherwise objectionable.'”

Schoenborn has been in the Coquitlam Forensic Psychiatric Hospital since 2010, after killing his daughter and two sons. She was diagnosed with a delusional disorder and had said at trial that she killed her children to protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse.

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This week’s hearing was Schoenborn’s first in two years and ended with an outburst and the apparent resignation of his attorney.

Anyone wishing to challenge the decision to release Schoenborn’s new legal name must notify the BC Review Board by the end of this month. If the board does not hear from anyone, its provisions relating to Schoenborn will include both his current and former legal name.

With files from Katie DeRosa and The Canadian Press

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