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Supporters of Sisters in Spirit, a group that works to raise awareness about the high rate of aboriginal women who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada, protested on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, Oct 4. Speakers at the event criticized the governmen (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)
A plea to B.C. Premier Christy Clark to “fix” the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry before its hearings begin on Oct. 11 appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
A group of NGOs granted standing at the inquiry along with the families of 17 missing and murdered women sent a letter to Clark asking her to “intervene in this broken process” and appoint a senior government official to hold an emergency meeting with them to address their concerns.
The letter said the inquiry is in “serious jeopardy” of not living up to its mandate to determine why so many women have gone missing or been murdered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and what can be done to prevent a re-occurrence.
“Despite our unflinching desire for this Commission of Inquiry to succeed, and for our communities and organizations to be able to participate in it, the people and communities who are intended to be benefited by this process have been made to feel that their participation is not needed, or even particularly desired,” the letter said.
“If this commission is allowed to fail, which would certainly be the case if it is ultimately seen as illegitimate by affected communities, the result will be to not only aggravate old wounds, but open new ones.”
The letter added that “the subject matter being canvassed by this commission is information we have wanted to be brought before the public for years.”
Led by former attorney general Wally Oppal, the commission will probe police investigations of women reported missing from the DTES between Jan. 23, 1997, and Feb. 5, 2002—when serial killer Robert Pickton was arrested—and why attempted murder and other charges against Pickton were dropped in 1998.
In response to the groups’ letter, Attorney General Shirley Bond cited budget constraints and noted that four independent lawyers have been added by the commission.
“Let me be clear, we will not be intervening in the work of the Commission. Given the budget challenges the ministry is facing, we have made our priority funding legal counsel for the families of the murdered and missing women,” she said in a statement.
“As part of the study hearings, the Commission recently held meetings in several northern communities to hear from a number of interested groups and individuals.
“The Commission also recently added four independent lawyers, two retained pro bono, who will represent certain participant groups. These lawyers are in addition to the commission’s several previously retained lawyers.”
$1.5 Million Needed
The four additional lawyers, two of whom are legal assistants working pro-bono, were appointed to represent the DTES community and aboriginal groups. But several of the groups say the move is not enough and more funding is needed for legal representatives to speak on their behalf.
The commission’s mandate includes a hearing portion and a study portion. During the hearing phase, which will begin in Vancouver on Oct. 11, lawyers are needed to hear testimony, examine witnesses, and sort through reams of documents.
While legal representation has been granted to Vancouver police officers and family members of victims, the government has been criticized for its failure to provide funding to all groups granted standing at the inquiry.
Oppal has recommended more funding, saying it would cost about $1.5 million to have lawyers represent the range of groups that can help him with his investigation.
Several groups have dropped out of the inquiry, saying they are unable to participate given the current structure and lack of legal funding.
The government has said that the non-participation of these groups will not negatively impact the effectiveness of the inquiry. Bond noted that commission counsel Art Vertlieb has said the commission is satisfied its mandate can be fulfilled with “the present configuration” of participants.
Bond said the government has not received a request from the commissioner to extend its deadline and as such, the commission is expected to complete its work as planned by Dec. 31.
In early September, a group of close to a dozen prominent lawyers and academics also sent a letter to Bond expressing concern about the government’s refusal to fund all participants.
“We can identify no other case in Canada where a government, having appointed a commission of inquiry, then, in effect, overturned a commissioner’s decision on standing by refusing funding for participation,” the letter said.
A coalition of DTES women’s groups is the latest to boycott the hearings, calling them a “sham.” On Monday, the coalition called for a new inquiry that truly represents and is inclusive of women in the Downtown Eastside, particularly first nations women.It is believed that Pickton—a former pig farmer currently serving life in prison for the murder of six women—lured 49 women from the DTES, many of them drug addicts and prostitutes, over a period of 14 years before police arrested him.
