Wally Oppal in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday January 7, 2009.Darryl Dyck/ The Canadian Press
B.C.'s Missing Women Commission will begin its first session Wednesday with an attempt to diminish expectations of those who have been calling for a commission of inquiry for years.
Commission head Wally Oppal said Tuesday he intends to remind advocates, activists and families of the missing women that his mandate is mostly to look into the police investigation, why serial killer Robert Pickton was not arrested earlier and whether regional policing would improve investigations of missing women.
"We have asked people to come forward so that we can tell them what the purpose of the commission is, and what the purpose of this particular community forum is," Mr. Oppal said Tuesday in an interview.
However, advocates and activists say the commission should pay more attention to the missing women. Some have indicated they expect the inquiry to delve into whether prostitution should be legalized or why women end up on the street.
Although pleased that the inquiry has started its work, they said they remain critical of the appointment of Mr. Oppal, a former B.C. politician, as commission head without consulting the aboriginal community.
They also questioned why the community forums are being held before the formal commission hearings begin. "It [the community forum]really has no bearing on the inquiry itself," Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said in an interview. "[The forums]will have no impact. There is no obligation to document the information and comments brought forward at the public sessions."
By late Tuesday, 14 people had indicated they intend to make submissions at the community forum in Vancouver Wednesday and eight speakers have registered for a second community forum to be held on Friday in Prince George.
The list for the Vancouver forum includes Vancouver East MP Libby Davies, Vancouver city councillor Ellen Woodsworth and Gladys Radek and Bernie Williams of Walk 4 Justice. Families of women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside were notably absent from the list.
The Prince George forum will hear about the women who have gone missing along the so-called Highway of Tears, Terry Teegee, a vice-tribal chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, said in an interview. The Highway of Tears runs through Carrier Sekani territory. None of the cases have been solved. "The inquiry needs to know of all the experiences of the indigenous people up here," he said.
A Carrier-Sekani woman, Jackie Murdock, is believed to have beeen one of Mr. Pickton's victims, Mr. Teegee said. Ms. Murdock's DNA was found on the Pickton farm. He anticipated the commission will be told about the families' experiences with the government and the RCMP. "What the families will convey is their frustration with the investigation of the Pickton farm and how long it took to arrest Mr. Pickton," he said.
The commission will also hear about the concerns of victims' families over the B.C. government decision to cut funding for a Highway of Tears co-ordinator, who spearheaded work related to the missing women in northern B.C., Mr. Teegee said.
Mr. Oppal said he wants to hear from the public at the forums in order to understand the full impact of the tragedy on the community before starting the commission's work. "We want to be fair, to let the community know what we are doing and what we are focusing on," Mr. Oppal said.