Members of the Vancouver Police forensics team examine the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Lapu-Lapu Day street festival Saturday evening in Vancouver on April 27.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
An independent commission tasked with improving safety at public events in B.C. after a deadly vehicle attack at a Filipino street festival has recommended that the province mandate risk assessments for all such gatherings, clarify jurisdictional roles and improve training.
The province convened the Commission of Inquiry into Community Events Safety in May after the April 26 vehicle attack. Eleven people died and dozens more were injured when an SUV barrelled through the busy Lapu-Lapu Day block party on the city’s eastside, casting fear and uncertainty on to the summer festival season ahead.
The government said Wednesday it accepted “the intent” of all the recommendations, but did not provide a timeline for implementation.
The commission, led by former B.C. Supreme Court chief justice Christopher Hinkson, made six recommendations in a report released Wednesday afternoon.
In the commission’s view, all public events, regardless of size, should be supported by a risk assessment that considers the event’s scale, location, activities and potential hazards, and assigns clear responsibilities for emergency planning, access and crowd management.
“This assessment need not be complex, but it should be thoughtful, structured, and appropriate to the scale and nature of the event,” the report said, noting that it could be prepared by event organizers or municipal staff.
People gather for a candlelight march for victims of the attack in Vancouver on May 2.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The commission noted that organizers and approving authorities often encounter overlaps and gaps in jurisdictional oversight and recommended that the province define roles and responsibilities for all involved. A centralized hub with standardized training would offer consistent advice and set out clear expectations.
It also recommended that the province: increase the availability of targeted funding for event-related safety and security costs; help bolster collaboration between event organizers and emergency services; and promote “after-action” reports to evaluate safety outcomes at the conclusion of public events.
Minister of Community Safety Terry Yung said the province accepts the recommendations in principle and will work with partners to determine how best to implement them. He offered no timeline.
Opinion: A visible police presence helps large street festivals feel safer after Lapu-Lapu attack
“We fully accept the intent of all the recommendations; we just have to work out what are the practical guidelines, to work with our partners,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Mr. Yung highlighted a risk assessment framework and an event safety plan template included in the report as two components that can immediately be put to use.
The report offers “clear, practical ways, moving forward, to enhance safety and security for community events,” he said.
“More importantly, tangibly, it provides new resources and tools that event organizers throughout the province can use right away.”
A woman lays flowers on a provincial day of mourning for the victims. Experts say mass-casualty vehicle attacks have become more common in the past decade.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The commission reviewed provincial and municipal planning materials; consulted with municipalities, police services, regional districts, Indigenous representatives and event organizers; and sought expert advice from a forensic psychiatrist on violence predictability in public spaces.
It noted that while many communities already have strong working relationships across organizations, smaller and under-resourced jurisdictions face persistent challenges, such as limited staffing capacity and rising costs for equipment and security.
While the report was spurred by the Vancouver vehicle attack, the event is the subject of a criminal investigation and therefore excluded from the commission’s mandate.
Mass-casualty vehicle attacks have become more common in the past decade, experts say, including incidents in Toronto, Berlin, Nice, London, Stockholm, New York and New Orleans.
Crystal Laderas, spokesperson for Lapu-Lapu Day event organizer Filipino BC, said Wednesday that the group would need more time to review the report before commenting. The commission did not reach out to the organization for input or a submission, she said.
Adam Lo has been in custody since he was detained by bystanders at the scene and then arrested. He has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder. The Vancouver police have said more charges are likely.
Mr. Lo experienced significant mental-health issues and had more than 100 police interactions over the past two decades, most of them self-initiated. One day before the Lapu-Lapu Day attack, he had contacted police to report strange smells in his vehicle.
The Globe and Mail reported on May 2 that he was an involuntary outpatient in the care of a community mental-health team that deemed him at high risk for mental-health decline.
Mr. Lo will face a two-day hearing, scheduled for July 23 and 24, to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
A separate, preliminary review of the April 26 Lapu-Lapu Day attack by the Vancouver Police Department and the City of Vancouver, released in May, found that all necessary precautions had been taken in planning the event.
That review found the festival posed no particular security concerns and did not warrant a dedicated police or traffic officer presence, even though the event, billed as “a block party for everyone,” had expanded in size since its inaugural iteration in 2024 and organizers had told they city they expected 100,000 attendees.
The final municipal report is expected in August.
The victims of the Lapu-Lapu Day attack were Jenifer Darbellay, 50; Kira Ganapol Salim, 34; Vicky Bjarnason, 56; Glitza Daniela Samper, 30; Glitza Maria Caicedo-Samper, 60; Daniel Samper Toro, 65; Jendhel Sico, 27; Richard Le, 47; Katie Le, 5; Linh Hoang, 30; and Rizza Azzir Pagkanlungan, 46.
As of Wednesday, six surviving victims remained in hospital.