Vancouver riot review headed by Nova Scotian

The B.C. government has chosen former Nova Scotia deputy minister Douglas Keefe to head the review into the June 15 Stanley Cup riot,CBC News has confirmed.

Keefe played a role in government responses to the Westray Mine disaster, the wrongful conviction of native Donald Marshall and the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Nova Scotia.

The province said last week the review would be required to report by Aug. 31.

More than 50 businesses were damaged and looted in a spree by rioters and vandals following the Vancouver Canucks' seventh-game loss in the Stanley Cup final.

Rioters also burned 15 cars and confronted riot police in several locations duringthe three-hour-rampage.

More than 120 people were arrested.

Key to the investigation will be how many and where police officers were deployed as the crowds in the closed-off downtown fan zones grew to more than 100,000 by the seventh game.

Police had changed to a tactic of engaging the crowds of fans after it proved successful during the 2010 Olympics, and in the wake of a smaller Stanley Cup riot in 1994 that mighthave been made more intense partly due to a police strategy of confrontation.