NOTABLE INQUIRIES IN B.C.

Since its first in 1872, B.C. has held more than 230 inquiries. Historic Examples:

1885: A “new-comer” to B.C. tried to steal land in False Creek from two “Indians” with a forged document.

1894: “A long list of cruelties and abuses” at the Provincial Lunatic Asylum led to the firings of the superintendent and two other workers.

1906: A Victoria school principal, Agnes Deans Cameron, lost her teaching certificate for three years for letting her students use a ruler instead of learning to draw a line freehand.

1917: “Grave frauds and irregularities” occurred when soldiers overseas voted in the B.C. Prohibition Act referendum.

1963: An inquiry into the price of gasoline recommended a five-year moratorium on any new gas stations in B.C.

1995: One of the most important B.C. inquiries: Judge Thomas Gove’s 1995 examination of the death of fiveyear-old Matthew Vaudreuil, who was killed by his mother, brought major changes to B.C.’s child protection service, including the creation of the Ministry for Children and Families. It would bring most services for vulnerable children under one roof. However, Gove became concerned in the late 1990s and early 2000s that both the former NDP and Liberal governments had stopped following some of his recommendations. The children’s ministry later would endure deep cuts and face several deaths of children.

1996: One of the least successful inquiries, the Bingogate inquiry, was called in 1996 to investigate charges that an NDP fundraising arm, the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holdings Society, stole $2.6 million from local charities. A cabinet minister pleaded guilty to fraud in the scandal and then-premier Mike Harcourt resigned, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing. After six years and $6 million, the newly elected Liberals ended the inquiry in 2001 before it could make any recommendations, saying the commission’s work was not going “to contribute to our understanding of gaming in the 21st century.’’