44 (iv)   The Ontario Law Reform Commission (abolished 1996);   (v)     The  Law  Reform  Commission  of  British  Columbia  (established 1969, abolished 1997); and (vi)   The Manitoba Law Reform Commission (abolished 1997). 170.  Individual  reasons  for  abolishing  the  Commissions  are  unclear.    The  Law Reform   Commission   of   British   Columbia   appears   to   have   simply   lost programme  funding  from  the  Ministry  of  Attorney-General,  although  it  is uncertain why the funding was withdrawn.    171.  But it seems that there are two significant factors behind the recent restructuring and abolition of law reform bodies: ·   Cuts in public expenditure resulting in downsizing; ·   An  increase  in  the  number  of  alternative  public  sector  policy  and  law reform   bodies   such   as   Commissions   of   Inquiry,   specialised   Select Committees,    and    legal    sections    within    established    Government Departments,   which   are   perceived   to   do   the   same   things   that   law commissions do.   172.  Mr  Peter  Hennessy,  former  Executive  Director  of  the  NSW  Commission,  has made  the  following  observation  in  relation  to  the  demise  of  Australian  law reform commissions:⁴⁷ I observed that in general terms Law Reform Agencies [in Australia] (at least those still operating) received less resources now than they did in the 1960s and 1970s and  that  in  line  with  major  reviews  of  the  public  sector  in  Australia  and  the introduction of concepts of corporate planning and programme budgeting, agencies were  forced  to  focus  on  providing  value  for  money.    This  has  led  to  some rationalisation  of  research  programmes  with  joint  projects  being  conducted  by several  law  reform  agencies  or  by  law  reform  agencies  and  other  government agencies.    Many  agencies  have  undergone  significant  internal  restructuring  in recent  years.    In  general  terms,  however,  the  nature  of  the  work  undertaken  by agencies  has  not  changed  significantly  although  there  is,  at  least  in  the  NSW experience, a much greater focus on the projects given to agencies being more in tune with the legislative programme of the Government of the day.                                                  47   “The   10^th   Commonwealth   Law   Conference”   (May   1993)   in   Minutes   and   Record   of Proceedings  of  the  Sixteenth  Australasian  Law  Reform  Agencies  Conference  (September 1993), 12.