B.C. Premier David Eby says he will examine the laws about name changes and how they apply to child-killer Allan Schoenborn after it was revealed this week that he had legally changed his name and is trying to keep it from becoming public.
“To start, it’s clear to all British Columbians that no one should be able to escape responsibility for their criminal actions by changing their name in this province,” said Eby on Thursday during an unrelated news conference.
“This includes Mr. Schoenborn and anyone else. When you commit a terrible act, it should not be avoided simply by changing your name.”
Before a review hearing earlier this week, the B.C. Review Board refused Schoenborn's request to have his new legal name removed from the board’s decisions, although it did say Schoenborn should still be referred to by his publicly known name.
The new name has not been made public since the change.
Following news of Schoenborn’s name change being reported on Wednesday, B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon criticized the province for “assisting” Schoenborn.
“This is unacceptable! Why is David Eby’s NDP government assisting this monster in concealing his identity? Name changes fall under provincial jurisdiction,” Falcon posted. “Schoenborn brutally murdered his three children in 2008. Who will be accountable for helping this terrible killer change his name?”
https://x.com/KevinFalcon/status/1780996404116426859
In response, Eby mentioned B.C.’s Deregulation Statues Amendment Act, introduced by Falcon in 2002, and claimed the Act permitted name changes to be made without being publicly recorded.
“And in light of these revelations from the Schoenborn hearing, we’ll be considering reinstating that,” said Eby.
However, a B.C. United spokesperson said Eby's statement was “completely false” and pointed out that the Act did not keep name changes out of the public record, but only aimed to ensure that only “qualified” individuals could access private information.
“The publication of names was moved online … that online access was later restricted to ‘qualified applications’ based on advice from the OIPC (Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C.) to protect women fleeing violence,” read the provided statement.
“Vital Stats under the Ministry of Health still has complete authority to deny any change of name that is ‘sought for an improper purpose or is on any other ground objectionable’.”
Schoenborn has been at Coquitlam’s Forensic Psychiatric Hospital since 2010, after killing his daughter and two sons. He was diagnosed with delusional disorder and had said at trial that he killed his children to protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse.
This week’s hearing was Schoenborn’s first in two years and ended with an outburst and his lawyer’s apparent resignation.
Anyone wishing to contest the decision to release Schoenborn’s new legal name should notify the B.C. Review Board by the end of this month. If the board doesn’t hear from anyone, its decisions related to Schoenborn will include both his current and former legal names.
With information from Katie DeRosa and The Canadian Press
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