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The Legislation Society of British Columbia says it has turn into conscious of attorneys receiving extortion threats for “substantial sums of cash.”
The authorized career regulator despatched out a discover to its members that claims attorneys have been focused with threats to their bodily security and it urges victims to contact police.
Society spokesperson Vinnie Yuen mentioned in an announcement that the experiences the Legislation Society acquired are confidential and it couldn’t reveal the character or variety of threats to attorneys, however “for the time being the problem isn’t widespread.”
The discover was despatched to Conservative MLA Steve Kooner, the Opposition legal professional normal critic, who’s a lawyer and a member of the society.
He launched an announcement Friday calling for extortion to be made a terrorism offence underneath the Legal Code.
🚨 BREAKING: Legal professionals have now turn into extortion victims in BC.
Premier @Dave_Eby and Legal professional Common @NikiSharma2 must reply for this mess.
B.C.’s extortion disaster is now focusing on attorneys — the very officers of our courts and protectors of our justice system.
Will the… pic.twitter.com/HLsZmOXnmF
Kooner mentioned that attorneys being threatened represents a “disturbing escalation” of what he calls the province’s “extortion disaster.”
B.C. has arrange an extortion task force to research dozens of extortion makes an attempt and subsequent shootings — a lot of them aimed toward South Asian enterprise individuals — which have terrorized a number of communities within the province.
Kooner mentioned in an interview Friday that he was “shocked” to be taught of threats towards attorneys, and had by no means heard of authorized professionals being focused in his almost 20 years practising legislation.
Neighborhood members expressed frustration as public officers acknowledged shortcomings of their response to the disaster, at a city corridor hosted by the CBC on Nov. 13, 2025. The Early Version appears at highlights from the occasion in Surrey, B.C., which introduced collectively the general public, enterprise homeowners, police, and politicians to debate the problem.
“We have heard about this extortion disaster focusing on enterprise homeowners, owners, and bystanders,” he mentioned.
“Now it is focusing on authorized professionals, it is focusing on the attorneys who’re officers of the courtroom. They’re the protectors of our authorized system.”
He mentioned the federal authorities ought to transfer urgently to categorise extortion as a terrorism offence.
“Persons are being terrorized, and now attorneys are being terrorized,” he mentioned.
CBC Information continues its intensive extortion protection with a take a look at how police are responding. Investigators say there’s been an explosion of circumstances since June 2025. As CBC’s Jon Hernandez experiences, many neighborhood leaders and residents say they need to see extra arrests — however B.C.’s high cops say investigations take time.
He mentioned threats towards those that uphold the justice system characterize an assault on the system as an entire, highlighting the necessity for a stronger response.
“Why this may very well be much more regarding is for certain attorneys might not need to be anyplace round extortion associated offences or costs,” he mentioned.
“They could not need to characterize or they could not need to act on these kind of offences fearing for their very own security.”
The Ministry of Legal professional Common mentioned in an announcement that it was conscious of the Legislation Society’s discover despatched to its members.
“The security and integrity of attorneys are important to the justice system, and we stand with members of the authorized career throughout this difficult time,” the assertion mentioned.
“The Legislation Society has accurately directed its members to obtainable sources, and we encourage anybody going through threats to report them to the police instantly.”
Sgt. Vanessa Munn, a spokesperson for the B.C. RCMP, mentioned police are additionally conscious that the Legislation Society had notified members of extortion threats.
“Nonetheless, we aren’t capable of verify whether or not or not there are any energetic investigations the place a lawyer is the sufferer,” Munn mentioned in an emailed assertion.
“We encourage anybody who’s receiving extortion threats to not pay and to right away report back to their native police.”
Municipal police for Surrey and Abbotsford each advised CBC Information they’re unaware of any particular circumstances of extortion threats involving attorneys.
“That being mentioned, I don’t take a look at the occupations of extortion victims,” mentioned Surrey Police Service Sgt. Tige Pollock in an emailed assertion.
