Missing Women Inquiry opens with protests, tough questions

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The long-awaited Missing Women Inquiry began today with a protest outside and tough questions inside for how police handled the investigation into marginalized women who disappeared from the Downtown Eastside, some of whom were murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton.

Numerous community groups protested outside the Georgia Street building, upset the province has refused to pay for lawyers for their organizations. The high-profile Assembly of First Nations added its name last-minute to the long list of groups that have pulled out, saying it doesn’t have confidence that justice will be done.

“The principle objectives behind AFN’s participation from the beginning have been to support the families, to bring to light systemic issues that gave rise to these tragedies, and finally to identify efforts toward resolution of those issues,” said National Chief Shawn Atleo.

Other groups say the probe is a “sham” because the provincial government is covering the cost of lawyers for the police but refuse to provide legal funding for them.

The inquiry opened with a blessing ceremony and Commissioner Wally Oppal asking a tough question.

“Is it acceptable that we allowed our most vulnerable to disappear? To be murdered?” he asked the packed federal courtroom, filled with lawyers, reporters, police officers and family members of missing and murdered women.

Commission Counsel Art Vertlieb sketched a timeline of the Vancouver Police investigation into missing women and laid out some probing questions on how the force’s Missing Persons Unit handled missing women reports in the late ’90s.

“There are allegations the Missing Person clerk treated reportees differently depending on their race,” contended Vertlieb.

“Specifically, it’s alleged that she refused to provide help to Aboriginal family members. It’s also alleged that she may have been dismissive of reports of missing women who worked in the sex trade.

“There is a suggestion that there were delays identifying individual missing person reports as fitting the pattern of missing women,” Vertlieb continued. “Families and friends may have been rebuffed when attempting to report missing women, thus delaying receipt of reports.”

If this is true, asks Vertlieb, “Why did it take so long for this problem to be identified?”

Vertlieb said he’s confident the inquiry will be respectful, if contentious.

Meanwhile, families of missing and murdered women say they are hoping for more answers on the fate of their loved ones.

Cynthia Cardinal, whose sister Georgina Papin was murdered by Robert Pickton, says hearing what may have happened during the police investigation is disturbing.

“My sister could still be alive today had they investigated in 1998 and taken it seriously, all the tips that came in,” she says, adding she’s upset groups like the Women’s Memorial March Committee weren’t there.

“[Those groups] did support [the families], they’re still supporting us,” she says. “They’re still the frontline workers and they’ve asked for their opportunity to speak and unfortunately because of funding it’s not going to happen.  I really feel for them.”

Ernie Crey, whose sister’s remains were also found on Pickton’s farm, says the problem of missing women won’t be gone when the inquiry ends.

“This won’t simply go away with the tendering of a report with recommendations at the end,” he says. “This is going to be with British Columbians, all of us, for a long long time to come.

“This inquiry is focusing in on policing and what was done and what wasn’t done and what, if it was done differently, might have brought us a different outcome altogether – may have in fact saved the lives of some of the women who have gone missing.”

Pickton was arrested in 2002 and convicted of six counts of second-degree murder, but the remains of 33 women were found at his Port Coquitlam pig farm.