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last mo.

Adjudicator Pushes Myles Gray Hearing to Proceed After OPCC Counsel Resigns

A months-long postponement is possible if the OPCC review does not resume on its current schedule.

Melissa Gray, third from left speaks about her brother, Myles Gray during a break from the public hearing into the police-involved death of Gray, in Vancouver, on Monday, January 19, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
Protesters hold banners with a photograph of Myles Gray, who died following a confrontation with several police officers in 2015, before the start of a coroner's inquest into his death, in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, April 17, 2023. The coroner presiding over the inquest says he won't allow the jury to see a photograph showing injuries at the time the 33-year-old died, because the application was made too late in the process. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Overview

  • The public hearing was adjourned last week after a hot‑mic obscenity was captured, and OPCC counsel Brad Hickford has now withdrawn while the Law Society of British Columbia investigates.
  • Adjudicator Elizabeth Arnold‑Bailey urged participants to continue, saying the work already done should not be discarded and expressing hope Hickford could still return.
  • Hickford’s lawyer said his client is “bewildered,” cannot recall saying the word, and may have uttered it unintentionally after initially denying he said it.
  • The proceeding, scheduled for up to 10 weeks, examines the conduct of seven Vancouver police officers who deny misconduct; none has been charged or disciplined, and Gray’s family wants the hearing to move forward.
  • Arnold‑Bailey warned a pause could push the hearing back six to 12 months; the session was adjourned until Tuesday morning for officers’ counsel to respond, and the remark’s target and speaker remain uncertain, with one lawyer identified as Claire Hatcher.