B.C. government ‘willing to look at’ publicly releasing names of homicide victims

The B.C. government is facing questions on why there isn’t a unified approach across the province when it comes to naming homicide victims.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth was asked on Monday whether there was any way for there to be provincial standards for identifying victims.

“I know that there are some issues with the Coroners Office about the release and in particular as it relates to the family and we are willing to look at this,” Farnworth said. “There are a lot of issues with the release of information especially when the family wants to keep it private.”

The questions come less than a week after a fatal police-involved shooting at the Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo.

The investigation has now been taken over by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), which has declined to release the victim’s name.

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The IIO does not release the identities of the person killed or injured, witnesses or subject officers that are part of their investigations.

“When it’s appropriate to release the name, I am sure that they will,” Farnworth said. “What I want to make sure is that the charges and all those things are done in a proper way and don’t jeopardize any particular case.”

WATCH HERE: Police incident at BC Ferries Departure Bay terminal

0:41 Police incident at BC Ferries Departure Bay terminal

The RCMP will often withhold names because it is bound to follow Canada’s Privacy Act and cannot release a victim’s name unless the information is already publicly available.

Up until last year, the B.C. Coroners Service would release the identities of the deceased, but stopped releasing the names of people whose deaths are being investigated because of privacy laws. A name would be released by the coroner if it would help with the investigation or a victim’s family gives permission.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has a much different policy, almost always identifying the victims of homicide.

“Homicide victims are not able to speak for themselves and we hope by sharing details of the offence, we will generate tips that could lead to the identity of those responsible for the death,” reads a statement from the VPD. “We never want to live in a society where someone can be murdered in secret.”