Court can weather suggestion accused spends ‘rest of his goddamned life in jail’: Eby

British Columbia Premier David Eby says he is confident the independence of the court won’t be influenced by his feelings that the man accused of killing 11 people at a Filipino festival should “spend the rest of his goddamned life in jail.”

The B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association has criticized Eby for comments he made last week in the legislature about the man accused of ramming his vehicle through crowds at the Lapu Lapu Day festival on April 26.

Branch president Lee Nevens said in a letter to Eby this week that the group is “deeply concerned” that the premier was expressing opinions on legal outcomes prior to a fair trial.

“By ignoring the presumption of innocence and the requirement of due process in your public remarks, you give permission for others to do the same. Such action undermines the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law, and it fosters distrust in our justice system,” the letter said.

Eby angrily replied to a question from the Opposition last week, saying the accused did a “despicable” and “most hateful thing.”

“Because my opinion is that the man made the decision to drive a vehicle into a crowd of children, parents, and seniors, volunteers, kill them,” he said. “In my opinion, he’s a murderer. It’s my opinion that he should spend the rest of his life in custody.”

The premier said Wednesday that he already apologized in the legislature for his “intemperate language.”

Eby said he feels close to the Filipino community and knows people who were at the festival at the time of the attack.

“I think that I have a stronger level of confidence in the independence of the judiciary and their ability to withstand my own feelings about what should happen to this individual and I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

The suspect in the case, 30-year-old Adam Kai-Ji Lo, is facing eight charges of second-degree murder, and police have said more charges are expected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May, 7, 2025.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press