In 1991, British Columbia Premier Bill Vander Zalm was accused of inappropriate behaviour in the sale of his family's Fantasy Gardens theme park, which was purchased by Taiwanese billionaire Tan Yu in 1990.
The premier initially said that he was not involved in either the operation or sale of his family business, but when documents released in a separate court case indicated otherwise, he asked Hughes to investigate the matter.
[7] Hughes' report found that Vander Zalm had mixed private business with public responsibilities on several occasions and had violated provincial conflict-of-interest guidelines.
[8] In 1992, Hughes ruled that Forestry Minister Dan Miller had put himself in a conflict by approving the sale of Westar Timber Ltd.'s forest assets in northwestern B.C.
[9] While Hughes's findings were not questioned, some journalists argued that the province's conflict-of-interest rules were defined too broadly after Vander Zalm's resignation, that the sale was a routine transfer, and that Miller did not stand to benefit personally.
[10] Hughes later investigated Mike Harcourt, who became premier after the 1991 provincial election, over a possible conflict of interest involving a former campaign advisor who had started a company called NOW Communications Inc.
[3] Hughes also served as chief federal negotiator in talks with ten indigenous groups on Vancouver Island in this period and was a member of the British Columbia Press Council.
[15] In 1998, Hughes was appointed to take over an existing inquiry into whether Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers had acted improperly against protesters at the 1997 Asia-Pacific Summit.
[17][18] Hughes found evidence of widespread police incompetence, and wrote that RCMP actions sometimes provoked violence and deprived protesters of their constitutional rights.
[23] In his report, Hughes blamed a constant turnover in leadership, major policy shifts, and the Campbell government's budget cuts for undermining the system.
He spoke at a drop-in centre in 2008, informing homeless persons of their rights following a court decision that struck down a municipal bylaw against camping in public spaces.
[28] In 1991, Manitoba Justice Minister James McCrae appointed Hughes to lead an investigation into the unusual circumstances which led to lawyer Harvey Pollock being arrested on a dubious sexual assault charge.
He noted that seventy to eighty per cent of inmates in Manitoba prisons were indigenous and called for a national initiative to target social inequality and other root causes of crime.
[35] The province of Manitoba announced that it had or was planning to implement many of the suggested changes, and issued a formal apology, stating that "the child welfare system failed Phoenix Sinclair".
[34] In 1992, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Bob Mitchell appointed Hughes to lead a judicial review into the shooting death of Leo LaChance, a Cree trapper, by Carney Milton Nerland, a member of the Aryan Nations white supremacist group.
[36] Hughes's report concluded that racism had played a role in LeChance's death, but added that police and prosecutors had acted in good faith and that a murder charge probably would not have been sustained.