Missing and Murdered Women: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31

Oppal's earnest words may silence his mission

A heartfelt plea left on an answering machine could scuttle all that the missing women inquiry's commissioner had hoped to accomplish

BY IAN MULGREW, VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 31, 2011 2:11 AM

Missing Women Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal made a serious mistake leaving a compassionate phone message for former attorney-general Barry Penner.

It may have doomed his mission.

Oppal's attempt-to-head-offtrouble-before-it-arrives mea culpa on Monday served only to reveal the depth of the wound he has sustained.

It did not staunch the bleeding.

We should not be surprised if someone now tries to kill the inquiry that has always promised to be a house of pain for police and prosecutors.

It's one thing to be generally criticized as a collective for failing to prevent the murder of a hellishly long list of women; it's another to be named publicly, to have personal culpability exposed and institutional failings itemized.

The Liberals, the cops and especially the criminal justice branch do not want that.

Frank Paul, Robert Dziekanski, Ian Bush, Willie Pickton - the growing list of serious cases that have been mishandled in this province is an indictment of the branch.

For two decades, it has ignored flawed and inadequate law-enforcement investigations and at the same time fought tooth and nail to prevent any outside scrutiny of its own failings.

Sadly, deputy attorney-general David Loukidelis has become the government's legal hatchet man, the black-hooded bearer of bad news.

In spite of a stellar 11-year career as an independent watchdog, the former privacy commissioner became immediately controversial with his unexpected defection to the administration in February last year.

He had been offered the plum post two months earlier by erstwhile premier Gordon Campbell.

Yet while mulling the job Loukidelis continued dealing with a pile of sensitive files involving the Liberals.

The optics stank given he and the government were supposedly battling each other.

More so given that he was being portrayed as proudly preparing to take on an expanded and more aggressive role as Liberal antagonist in his dual capacity as registrar of lobbyists.

(Back in 2008, Loukidelis was instrumental in exposing the lobbyist registration act as an ineffective sham.) More recently, he was the brains behind the decision to forgive more than $6 million in legal fees run up by disgraced Liberal insiders David Basi and Bob Virk in the BC Rail fraud case.

Earlier this year, he was also the man who told Oppal the province couldn't afford roughly $1.5 million for groups the former attorney-general thought should participate in his inquiry.

It was an appalling decision that threatened to damage the commission's credibility, so Oppal asked the government to reconsider.

Problem was, he overstepped the line.

Here's part of the heartfelt plea he left for Penner: "These are the women who complained to the police about women being missing. ... and the government is now being seen as funding the people who allegedly [did] everything wrong and ignored the women, ignored the victims but ... will not go and fund the victims, and not fund the women, the poor aboriginal women."

This was considered so awful that Penner prodded Loukidelis to spring into action, send a copy over to the cops' lawyer with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, between-the-lines hint that maybe Oppal was displaying bias, maybe he'd already made up his mind cops and prosecutors screwed up.

Oppal - who spent 23 years on the bench as a respected jurist and who was considered by some critics to be too much of a Liberal insider to produce anything but a whitewash? Hmmm.

Nevertheless, I get it. As right-on as Oppal's message sounds, it's a call he shouldn't have made while sitting as commissioner.

He sounds like an advocate rather than a disinterested trier of facts. No question.

His right-hand man could have delivered the message - but Oppal should have known better than to leave loaded ammunition on a tape machine for the enemies of this inquiry.

You can understand the paranoia in Victoria. It sounded like Oppal had gone native, got Stockholm Syndrome or something, ruining the best laid plans.

The bright lights in the criminal justice branch already had slyly circumscribed the inquiry by writing terms of reference that restricted it to examining only Crown decisions from the last century (never mind the final screwedup prosecution that produced a head-scratching six guilty verdicts of second-degree murder against Pickton).

The Crown, the police and the government wanted an investigation that was tailored in its scope and ability to find fault.

Oppal sounded like he was threatening that.

I guess they needed to remind him to play well with others or he would get bogged down in legal challenges from police and his former colleagues, In short: They would throw him under the bus if he stepped out of line.

Oppal got it; that's why he was grovelling.

Still, it's not the kind of message that inspires fearless inquiry or public confidence.

imulgrew@vancouversun.com

Monday, August 29

Wally Oppal denies he has prejudged whether Pickton serial killer probe was botched Read it on Global News: Global BC | Wally Oppal denies he has prejudged whether Pickton serial killer probe was botched

Vancouver Sun, Neal Hall : Monday, August 29, 2011 3:31 PM
Read it on Global News: Global BC | Wally Oppal denies he has prejudged whether Pickton serial killer probe was botched

VANCOUVER -- The head of the Missing Women inquiry issued a statement today saying he has not prejudged whether police botched the investigation into serial killer Robert Pickton.
Commissioner Wally Oppal said he issued the statement to clarify two earlier remarks after concerns were raised last month by the deputy attorney general.
He also revealed the contents of his phone message to the attorney general of B.C. to try to clear the air.
The first comment was made in Oppal's letter of June 30, which has been posted on the commission's website since early July.
Oppal said then about the failed 1998 prosecution of Pickton for attempted murder: "In neither instance [referring to the 1997 charges as well as a prior investigation] were the cases proceeded with. If they had been, it is clear that the murder of a number of missing women would have been avoided."
Pickton had been charged in 1997 with the attempted murder of a woman who fled naked and bleeding from Pickton's pig farm in Port Coquitlam. The Crown decided in 1998 to drop the charges and Pickton went on to kill other women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
The purpose of the letter, Oppal said Monday, was to get his renewed recommendation for funding to the government as soon as possible after the pre-hearing conference of June 27, 2011.
"I did not mean to suggest that I had concluded that the decision to stay the 1997 charges was wrong, nor did I mean to imply that if the charges had not been stayed that Pickton would have been convicted," Oppal said today in his statement.
"My intention was to suggest that if there had been sufficient evidence to support a conviction at that time, Pickton's criminal activities might have ended in 1998.
"Why there was not sufficient evidence or, for that matter, why Pickton was not caught earlier, is a question that I will be investigating. However, I want to stress that I have absolutely not reached any conclusion on this point."
The second comment was made on July 5th, when Oppal left a voicemail message for then Attorney General Barry Penner. Oppal's statement revealed the message said:
"These are the women who complained to the police about women being missing and were given the back of their hands . . . the police gave them the back of their hands to these women and disregarded what they had to say. So they can't cross-examine the police, who are of course well-armed with publicly funded lawyers . . .
"So anyway, I just wanted you to know that, it's how important this all is. And the government is now being seen as funding the people who allegedly done everything wrong and ignored the women, ignored the victims but not funding . . . will not go and fund the victims, and not fund the women, the poor aboriginal women. That's what the government is seen as. I just want you to know that."
Oppal's statement pointed out that it is not uncommon for a public inquiry commissioner to have contact with the attorney general on administrative matters after the Commission has been established.
"In fact, this happened on a number of occasions during my term as attorney general," Oppal said in his statement.
"Obviously this was a private phone message to a former colleague that was not worded with the thought in mind that it might be transcribed and analyzed, but nevertheless I should explain what I said.
"I assumed that the attorney general, as a lawyer, would understand that these were just mere allegations. I have always been careful to emphasize that I recognize the questions that I am inquiring into, including the alleged inadequacy of the police investigation, are at this point based on assertions and allegations that have been made over the years.
"So, for instance, I use the term 'allegedly' in the second paragraph above, and perhaps I should have used it in the first as well. In this instance there are allegations by some individuals and groups that they had attempted to alert the authorities to missing women and that they have been turned away, sometimes brusquely.
"Those accounts find support in the VPD's LePard report which said essentially the same thing. In my phone message, I simply wanted to emphasize that these allegations deserve to be explored, and that I believe funded counsel for those making the allegations, not just for those refuting them, would assist the process.
"Of course, I recognize that I will have to assess the substance of these matters on the basis of the evidence and testimony that will come out in the course of the hearings. I have not reached even preliminary conclusions on the facts.
"I hope that my judicial record, including 23 years on the County, Supreme and Appeal Court bench, demonstrates that I understand the need not to come to any conclusion before all of the evidence and submissions have been heard.
"I am bringing these matters to public light to give any participant the fair opportunity, in light of the comments and my explanation today, to make any submissions they deem appropriate to the commission.
"Should any participant wish to do so they can contact Mr. Vertlieb. I am determined that this Commission continue to carry out its important mandate and to ensure that there is no uncertainty hanging over the process as we move toward the initiation of the hearings on October 11, 2011."
The inquiry will begin seven community forums in northern B.C. on Sept. 12 to probe the issue teens and young women who have been found murdered or have gone missing along Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears, which runs from Prince Rupert to Prince George.
Details of the forums are available online at: http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/
Statement by Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal
On June 30th 2011 I wrote to the Attorney General on the subject of funding for participants.
On July 15th of this year, the Deputy Attorney General brought to the attention of my counsel, Mr. Art Vertlieb, QC, two comments I made that have given rise to a concern that I may have prejudged certain questions I am investigating. I believe that it is very important that this Commission proceed in a way that is completely transparent and fair to everyone. Consequently I have decided to share those comments and to provide some clarification to all participants.
The first comment was made in my letter of June 30 which has been published on the Commission's website since early July. In the first part of my letter, I wrote the following with respect to the 1998 prosecution of Robert Pickton for attempted murder:
In neither instance [referring to the 1997 charges as well as a prior investigation] were the cases proceeded with. If they had been it is clear that the murder of a number of missing women would have been avoided.
The purpose of this letter was to get my renewed recommendation for funding to the government as soon as possible after the pre‐hearing conference of June 27, 2011. The letter and this passage in
particular could have been more precisely worded.
I did not mean to suggest that I had concluded that the decision to stay the 1997 charges was wrong, nor did I mean to imply that if the charges had not been stayed that Pickton would have been convicted.
My intention was to suggest that if there had been sufficient evidence to support a conviction at that time, Pickton's criminal activities might have ended in 1998.
Why there was not sufficient evidence or, for that matter, why Pickton was not caught earlier, is a question that I will be investigating. However, I want to stress that I have absolutely not reached any conclusion on this point.
The second comment was made on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011. At that time, I left a voicemail message forthen Attorney General Barry Penner. The message said, in relevant part:
. . . These are the women who complained to the police about women being missing and were given the back of their hands . . . the police gave them the back of their hands to
these women and disregarded what they had to say. So they can't cross‐examine the police, who are of course well‐armed with publicly funded lawyers . . .
So anyway, I just wanted you to know that, it's how important this all is. And the government is now being seen as funding the people who allegedly done everything wrong and ignored the women, ignored the victims but not funding . . . will not go and fund the victims, and not fund the women, the poor aboriginal women. That's what the government is seen as. I just want you to know that.
I should point out that it is not uncommon for a Commissioner to have contact with the Attorney General on administrative matters after the Commission has been established; in fact this happened on a number of occasions during my term as Attorney General.
Obviously this was a private phone message to a former colleague that was not worded with the thought in mind that it might be transcribed and analyzed, but nevertheless I should explain what I said.
I assumed that the Attorney General, as a lawyer, would understand that these were just mere allegations. I have always been careful to emphasize that I recognize the questions that I am inquiring into, including the alleged inadequacy of the police investigation, are at this point based on assertions and allegations that have been made over the years. So, for instance, I use the term "allegedly" in the
second paragraph above, and perhaps I should have used it in the first as well. In this instance there are allegations by some individuals and groups that they had attempted to alert the authorities to missing women and that they have been turned away, sometimes brusquely. Those accounts find support in the VPD's LePard report which said essentially the same thing. In my phone message, I simply wanted to emphasize that these allegations deserve to be explored, and that I believe funded counsel for those making the allegations, not just for those refuting them, would assist the process.
Of course, I recognize that I will have to assess the substance of these matters on the basis of the evidence and testimony that will come out in the course of the hearings. I have not reached even preliminary conclusions on the facts. I hope that my judicial record, including 23 years on the County, Supreme and Appeal Court bench, demonstrates that I understand the need not to come to any conclusion before all of the evidence and submissions have been heard.
I am bringing these matters to public light to give any participant the fair opportunity, in light of the comments and my explanation today, to make any submissions they deem appropriate to the Commission. Should any participant wish to do so they can contact Mr. Vertlieb. I am determined that this Commission continue to carry out its important mandate and to ensure that there is no uncertainty hanging over the process as we move toward the initiation of the hearings on October 11, 2011.

Read it on Global News: Global BC | Wally Oppal denies he has prejudged whether Pickton serial killer probe was botched

Sunday, August 21

HOPE LIVES HERE

Saturday, August 20

Mother of woman missing from Downtown Eastside gets full standing at inquiry

BY TRACY SHERLOCK, VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 19, 2011

Robert Pickton had been charged in the deaths of 20 other women. Top row, from left, Andrea Borhaven, Angela Jardine, Cindy Feliks, Debra Jones, Diana Melnick. Second row: Diane Rock, Cara Ellis, Heather Chinnock, Heather Bottomley, Helen Hallmark. Third row: Inga Hall, Jacqueline McDonell, Jennifer Furminger, Kerry Koski, Patricia Johnson. Fourth row: Sarah de Vries, Sherry Irving, Tanya Holyk, Tiffany Drew, Wendy Crawford.

Photograph by: Reuters, Postmedia News

VANCOUVER - The missing women inquiry announced Thursday that it is granting full standing to Marion Bryce, mother of Patricia Johnson, who was last seen in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 2001.

Robert Pickton was charged with Johnson’s murder, but the charges were later stayed.

“I believe Ms. Bryce will contribute to a meaningful examination of the conduct of the missing women investigation, particularly the instigation of the investigations,” Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal wrote in his decision. He said Bryce would contribute to the fairness of the inquiry by giving evidence about Johnson’s disappearance, Bryce’s initial search and report to police, the information Bryce provided to police and the conduct of the investigation.

Bryce will be represented by Vancouver lawyer, Irwin Nathanson.

Lawyer Cameron Ward is representing 13 families of missing women, including five that were recently added: the families of Jacqueline Murdoch, Angela Williams, Brenda Wolfe, Andrea Joesbury and Elsie Sabastion.

The commission was appointed by the B.C. government last year to probe the Vancouver police and RCMP investigations of women reported missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside between Jan. 23, 1997 and Feb. 5, 2002, when Pickton was arrested.

Community forums in the inquiry are slated to begin Sept. 12 and hearings are scheduled to start Oct. 11.

The government decided not to provide legal funding to all 13 community groups granted standing by Oppal, and only gave funding to the families of Pickton. Eight groups have withdrawn their participation over the lack of legal funding.

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

Friday, August 19

Mother of missing woman gets full standing at B.C. inquiry

BY TRACY SHERLOCK, POSTMEDIA NEWS AUGUST 19, 2011 4:03 PM

Serial killer Robert Pickton. A B.C. government inquiry into the disappearances of women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside during the period when Pickton was preying on prostitutes has granted standing to the mother of one of the vanished women.

Photograph by: File, Reuters

VANCOUVER - B.C.'s missing women inquiry announced Thursday that it is granting full standing to Marion Bryce, mother of Patricia Johnson, who was last seen in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in 2001.

Convicted serial killer Robert Pickton was charged with Johnson's murder, but the charges were later stayed.

"I believe Ms. Bryce will contribute to a meaningful examination of the conduct of the missing women investigation, particularly the instigation of the investigations," inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal wrote in his decision.

He said Bryce would contribute to the fairness of the inquiry by giving evidence about Johnson's disappearance, Bryce's initial search and report to police, the information Bryce provided to police and the conduct of the investigation.

Bryce will be represented by Vancouver lawyer Irwin Nathanson.

The commission was appointed by the B.C. government last year to probe the investigations by Vancouver police and RCMP of women reported missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside between Jan. 23, 1997 and Feb. 5, 2002, when Pickton was arrested.

Community forums in the inquiry are slated to begin Sept. 12 and hearings are scheduled to start Oct. 11.

The government decided not to provide legal funding to all 13 community groups granted standing by Oppal, and only gave funding to the families of Pickton's victims. Eight groups have withdrawn their participation over the lack of legal funding.

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

Sunday, August 14

Wendy Babcock

We remember Wendy Babcock the woman, not just for her activism, but for her tenacity, humour, boundless energy and drive. She was a mother, a loving sister and daughter, and was part of a close chosen family of friends.

Wendy dedicated her life to the rights of others. She was always willing to talk to people and answer questions about the issues she was passionate about – sex worker rights, harm reduction, mental health and child welfare reform. She felt that anyone's mind could change about a particular issue. Her patience, quick wit and disarming personality allowed her to rally people to her causes. She never turned her advocacy and support off. If she saw someone outside of a bar or a strip club and they didn’t have a safe place to stay, she was always ready to help them find one.

Thursday, August 11

Civil Liberties groups calls for removal of police advisors from Missing Women inquiry

BY NEAL HALL, VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 11, 2011 4:14 PM

VANCOUVER - Three Peel regional police officers who are advising the Missing Women inquiry should be removed because it puts into question the inquiry's independence, two watchdog groups said today.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Pivot Legal Society are calling for the removal of the Peel regional police officers, including the force's Deputy Chief, Jennifer Evans, who has been asked to provide expert advice to the inquiry.

Robert Holmes, president of the BCCLA, said Thursday that his group and others are deeply concerned that having the Peel officers working closely with the Missing Women inquiry seriously undermines the perceived independence of the inquiry.

The commission said earlier that Evans is appropriate because of her experience as a homicide investigator and because she had been seconded to the inquiry in Ontario that probed the Paul Bernardo case. Evans, once she began reviewing the Missing Women documents, later brought in two Peel homicide detectives to assist her.

But Holmes maintained that using active-duty police in the Missing Women inquiry creates the appearance of police investigating police, which two previous public inquiries in B.C., into the deaths of Robert Dziekanski and Frank Paul, found to be unacceptable.

Holmes also pointed out the RCMP recently investigated Peel regional police officer Sheldon Cook, who was convicted last year of drug trafficking offences in Ontario, and the RCMP is also investigating two other Peel regional police officers who testified at Cook's trial as Crown witnesses.

"This commission has repeatedly shown it has a tin ear for how its moves will play before the public," Holmes said. "Steps like this fail to show sensitivity to the families and interested groups and fail to build confidence in whatever the inquiry reports and recommends."

Holmes said it's bad enough that there's an imbalance between unlimited public funding of police and government agencies who will appear before the inquiry to be questioned about their handling of missing women reports and previous dealings with serial killer Robert Pickton, and the pittance in resources provided for families and interested groups, but what makes matters worse is having "back room" police advisors.

"How families of the missing and murdered women, marginalized women living on the Downtown Eastside, aboriginal groups, poverty groups and the public generally can be expected to have confidence in this inquiry is increasingly hard to see."

The Missing Women inquiry said earlier that Peel's deputy chief was brought in to review all the documents and police procedures submitted to the inquiry by the Vancouver police and the RCMP, and provide recommendations to inquiry staff.

Deputy Chief Evans will testify in open court about what "business is usual and what is unusual business," so there will be nothing secret about her work, inquiry executive director John Boddie said in a letter last month to the BCCLA, Pivot and Amnesty International Canada, which had jointly asked for expertise to be sought outside the active policing community.

No aboriginal leaders or representatives of families of missing women or social advocacy groups have been brought in by the inquiry staff for the same purpose, Holmes pointed out.

The Missing Women inquiry has faced a growing backlash in recent weeks over the government's decision not to provide legal funding to all 13 community groups granted standing by inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal. The attorney general only granted funding to the families of victims of serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Eight groups have withdrawn their participation over the lack of government funding.

Holmes pointed out that there is a disparity in funding for groups granted standing at the Cohen commission of inquiry into the dwindling salmon stocks in B.C. and the inquiry that will probe the plight of marginalized women who went missing in large numbers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside without police giving proper attention to the problem.

Not giving the proper resources to the Oppal inquiry, Holmes said, reinforces the growing perception that the government is not serious about the inquiry.

In a letter sent today to Premier Christy Clark, ND leader Adrian Dix called upon the government to reconsider not granting funding to all groups granted standing at the Missing Women inquiry.

"It's clear urgent action is needed when group after group is withdrawing from the inquiry due to the lack of support from your government," the letter said. "I strongly urge you reconsider your decision and immediately grant funding to support the meaningful participation of the 13 groups granted standing by the commissioner."

In order to address the drop-out problem, the inquiry announced Wednesday that is hiring two new independent lawyers, and two senior lawyers have offered their services for free, to represent the interests of first nations women and the Downtown Eastside Community at the inquiry.

The lawyers will work independently of the inquiry and will be able to cross-examine police witnesses.

Chris Freimond, spokesman for the Missing Women inquiry, offered this response to the call to have the Peel officers removed from the inquiry:

"The Peel Regional Police Service officers will provide expert opinion that will be entered as evidence at the inquiry. They are not involved in the Commission investigations as referred to by the BCCLA.

"Because of their experience and knowledge of police work, the Commission gratefully accepted their offer to provide this important expert opinion free of charge. The officers offered these services because they believe the commission is addressing a serious problem that will have implications for policing across Canada.

"Deputy Chief Evans is qualified to provide the required opinion because of her experience as a homicide investigator, inspector in charge of Peel Homicide Unit and a secondment to the Bernardo Inquiry in Ontario, which has similarities to parts of the commission’s terms of reference.

"Evans' reports to the commission will be available to all participants and she will give evidence like any other witness. Lawyers for other participants will be able to cross examine her if they choose to do so.

"Evans is supported by two experienced homicide acting detective sergeants. They are based in at the Peel Regional Police Services headquarters in Brampton, Ont., where they have been provided with office space that is separated from the normal Peel Police services."

nhall@vancouversun.com

On A Mission: Wendy Babcock - Connect with Mark Kelley

Missing-women inquiry looks like lawyers' feeding frenzy

BY MICHAEL SMYTH, THE PROVINCE AUGUST 11, 2011 3:02 AM

Wally Oppal, head of Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, has already billed $220,000 for his time.

Wally Oppal's public inquiry into the tragic missing-women case has already racked up nearly $2 million in expenses - including $220,000 for Oppal himself - with actual testimony still months away.

The cost of the inquiry so far was revealed on the same day Oppal announced four more lawyers are joining his commission staff, bringing his flock of legal eagles to 10.

Despite all those lawyers working for Oppal, several stakeholder groups have said they will not participate in the inquiry, because the government refuses to pay for their own individual legal teams.

Oppal has been tasked by the Christy Clark government to look into the gruesome Willy Pickton serial killings and determine what went wrong in the investigation of the sadistic Port Coquitlam pig farmer.

At least seven advocacy groups representing aboriginal and anti-poverty activists - all granted official standing at the inquiry by Oppal - have said they will not participate because the government won't pay for their lawyers.

On Wednesday, Oppal said four more lawyers have been added to his team, two of whom will work for free as a community service and represent the interests of the rebel groups.

But there's no guarantee that will lure the disgruntled groups back to the fold. In total, Oppal had called on the government to provide lawyers for 13 different interest groups.

Oppal's staff estimated the requested additional lawyers would cost $1.5 million. But keep in mind those 13 groups were seeking individual "legal teams" to represent them, not just one lawyer apiece.

That had the government understandably worried that so many lawyers claiming so many billable hours would blow the inquiry budget through the roof.

Now comes word of how much the inquiry has already cost taxpayers, before a single word of evidence has even been heard.

Commission lawyers, research and administration staff have already rung up $1.37 million in expenses. General operating costs, for things such as hotels and information technology, stand at $250,000. And the Ministry of the Attorney General has spent $80,000.

Oppal himself has billed $220,000, which includes his $1,500-a-day retainer.

Total bill so far: $1.9 million, with Oppal scheduled to start hearing evidence in October.

The government had originally estimated the total cost of the inquiry at between $3 million and $5 million. With nearly $2 million already consumed - and yet more lawyers being added to the commission staff - that estimate looks shaky.

But Oppal argues the four new lawyers won't add to the tab because two are working "pro bono" (for free) while commission staff have found savings elsewhere in the budget to pay the other two.

Still looks like a lawyers' feeding frenzy to me. As was learned in the B.C. Rail corruption case ($6 million written off in legal fees for the two government employees found guilty), lawyers just can't seem to control themselves when taxpayers are footing the bill.

All of which makes me wonder if this money wouldn't be better spent protecting vulnerable women at the mercy of predators on the streets right now.

msmyth@theprovince.com

twitter.com/MikeSmythNews

Wednesday, August 10

WWW.MISSINGPEOPLE.NET

Tuesday, August 9

More than half of Pickton Public inquiry participants sitting out

The Canadian Press

Date: Tuesday Aug. 9, 2011 7:28 PM ET

VANCOUVER — The lawyer for the families of Robert Pickton's victims says he's concerned an inquiry examining the case will be hamstrung as a growing number of advocacy groups refuse to participate.

Cameron Ward says he still believes there is important work to do to answer the questions of why it took police so long to acknowledge a serial killer was stalking Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

But the inquiry would have had access to a clearer picture if the government had agreed to fund lawyers for a range of groups representing sex workers and aboriginals.

"I'm concerned that the inquiry won't fully address all of the various issues that the public may be interested in and concerned about," Ward said in an interview Tuesday, adding that he can't be expected to fill the void.

"It does create an added burden for me and my small legal team. However, our only job is to ensure that we adequately represent the interests of our clients."

On Tuesday, women's organizations LEAF, or West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund and the Ending Violence Association of B.C., also known as EVA, became the latest to formally withdraw from the inquiry, which is scheduled to begin hearings in Vancouver in October.

They were granted status together as a single participant and their decision means more than half the organizations that were granted status at the inquiry have bowed out due to a lack of government funding.

It has left commissioner Wally Oppal with a shrinking number of voices as he looks for ways to prevent the horrific case from repeating itself.

Oppal had recommended more than a dozen groups and coalitions like LEAF and EVA receive legal funding from the provincial government.

But the province has repeatedly refused, prompting a steady stream of announcements in the past several weeks from groups who say they can't afford to attend.

Those announcements have had a cascading effect, with other organizations withdrawing in solidarity.

"Our coalition cannot participate in an inquiry into the deaths of so many marginalized women when the inquiry lacks the essential participation of aboriginal groups, sex-worker groups, and front line women's organizations," West Coast LEAF and the Ending Violence Association of B.C. wrote in a letter to Oppal.

"The failure to provide adequate resources at this early stage does not bode well for the government's commitment to implementing the recommendations of the commission in your final report."

Oppal has twice asked the province to fund a list of 13 participants, calling the government's decision the "height of unfairness."

However, Attorney General Barry Penner has said his ministry will only fund a lawyer for the families of Pickton's victims, insisting money is tight and resources are limited.

The groups that have dropped out include: a collection of sex-work organizations such as the WISH drop-in centre; the Native Women's Association of Canada; the Frank Paul Society; the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council; the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs; the Women's Equality and Security Coalition; and the Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of B.C.

Several others including the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association have raised doubts about whether they'll participate, but have yet to make a final decision.

Oppal and his commission lawyers announced plans last week to appoint two lawyers to represent the interests of sex workers and aboriginals, but they won't work for specific groups.

"The commissioner and staff are obviously disappointed with any groups withdrawing -- he believes that they do have contributions to make and he wanted them to participate," said commission spokesman Chris Freimond.

"There is a move to try to bring in additional lawyers into the commission budget to help present some of the perspectives of the groups who have decided they can't participate."

Some of the groups that were denied funding have rejected the idea of commission-appointed lawyers, arguing they won't be able to adequately represent such a diverse range of groups.

Ward said he also won't be able to represent their views, saying his commitment has to be to his clients, the victims' families.

"They (the families) may have different perspectives than some of these interest groups do, and I don't think it's fair to assume that we will step into the breach and present the various perspective of those groups."

Ann Livingston of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users said her group plans to participate using the commission-appointed lawyer, but she admits it's not ideal.

"I lament the whole mess that it is -- the delay in setting it up, the sloppiness in who they gave standing to and then this bizarre denial of funds for legal representation," said Livingston.

"We can make that model (of a commission-appointed lawyer) work for us, should the model be set up properly."

Oppal will examine why Vancouver police and the RCMP failed to catch Pickton as he murdered sex workers from the city's Downtown Eastide until his arrest in 2002.

He was eventually convicted of six murders, but the remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his farm in nearby Port Coquitlam. He bragged to police that he killed 49.

Hearings are set to begin Oct. 11.

Oppal will also hold a less-formal study commission that will look at broader issues surrounding missing and murdered women, including cases along the so-called Highway of Tears in northern B.C.

Forums are planned for Prince Rupert, Prince George and surrounding communities next month, although the inquiry has also run into opposition there. The chief of the Saik'uz First Nation near Vanderhoof has said the inquiry won't be welcome in her community.

Saturday, August 6

‘Compromise’ may see 4 lawyers hired

Would represent first nations women, DTES

BY NEAL HALL, VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 6, 2011

The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry is looking to hire four lawyers to represent the interests of first nations women and residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The commission of inquiry came up with the plan after the provincial government refused to provide legal funding for 12 of 13 groups who have been granted standing to participate in the inquiry, which will probe the police failures during the investigations of serial killer Robert Pickton.

"In a sense it's a compromise," inquiry spokesman Chris Freimond explained Friday, "to find another way to have all the voices heard."

The commission has the resources to fund these lawyers because some of the investigations that staff undertook didn't take as much time as previously anticipated, so savings have been possible, he said.

The commission alerted lawyers for the participants last week that it intended to hire four lawyers on contract - two to represent first nations women and two to represent the DTES community.

The deadline for applications is Monday.

The commission has the authority to engage outside lawyers to represent these groups under section 7(2) of the Public Inquiry Act.

While the lawyers will be working on behalf of the commission and will be paid by the commission, they will work independently and will not use the commission's offices or resources, Freimond said.

The B.C. government only agreed to fund a lawyer to represent the interests of the families of Robert Pickton's victims. Pickton was the pig farmer who lured women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his Port Coquitlam farms.

Two DTES groups are already opposing the inquiry commission's proposal.

The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and Feb 14th Women's Memorial March Committee issued a statement Friday saying they strongly objected to the Missing Women Commission's latest proposal.

"The amicus proposal is an attempt to lend legitimacy to a fundamentally flawed process by having a few lawyers who purportedly serve all our interests," the statement said. "To accept this model would mean to take away the voices of the women yet again."

Harsha Walia of the DTES Women's Centre said the proposal is flawed because the new lawyers hired won't represent specific clients and so they won't be able to share police documents with the groups.

The commission said Friday in a statement that it acknowledges that the role of Kim Rossmo is clearly different from that of the other full participants and expects the attorney-general may be prepared to fund counsel for Rossmo.

Rossmo, who now teaches at a university in Texas, is a former Vancouver police officer who specialized in serial crime and wanted the force to issue a warning in the late 1990s that a serial killer might be preying on women. The police force opted not to heed Rossmo's advice.

The inquiry will begin a study commission in nine northern communities, Sept. 12 to 22, between Prince Rupert and Prince George to probe the issue of trying to investigate multiple cases of murdered and missing women. It is believed dozens of women have disappeared over the years along Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears.

nhall@vancouversun.com

Missing and Murdered Women