Kevin Falcon, leader of Opposition BC United, is pushing for a change in legislation to prevent individuals convicted of serious criminal offenses from changing their names legally.
Falcon introduced a private member’s bill in the legislature aimed at amending the British Columbia Name Act following reports that Allan Schoenborn, a convicted child-killer, was allowed to change his name.
Schoenborn, who was deemed not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder for the 2008 murders of his three children in Merritt, B.C., has since changed his name, although his new identity remains undisclosed.
Falcon argues that the NDP government has the authority under the Name Act to block name changes but failed to do so in Schoenborn’s case. Schoenborn has been confined at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C., since 2010.
If passed, Falcon’s proposed Name Amendment Act would automatically prohibit individuals designated as dangerous or long-term offenders under the Criminal Code from seeking name changes.
Premier David Eby has expressed a willingness to review current name-change laws to ensure that individuals cannot evade accountability for criminal acts by changing their names.
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