Oppal To Head Public Inquiry on Investigation of Missing Women

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 09:00 AM

Prince George, B.C.- It's official, former Attorney General Wally Oppal will head up the public inquiry into the investigation of the missing women from Vancouver's east side and why charges of of assault against Pickton were stayed in 1998.

The investigation eventually lead to the arrest and conviction of Robert Willie Pickton, but that arrest happened years after police had been told about the Coquitlam pig farmer.

Oppal is to have a his final report to the Attorney General by the end of next year.

The final report must be submitted by the end of this year. It is expected the inquiry will cost between $3 and $5 million dollars "It is an expensive proposition, but well worth it" says Attorney General Mike deJong.

Oppal was Attorney General at the time of Pickton's trial and did comment following the trial that there would be no second trial for the 20 other murder charges Pickton faced if the convictions for the 6 were upheld by the courts.

Although Oppal was in office during the trial of Pickton, deJong says Oppal's record is impecable, "He was a very human judge and as an Attorney General brought those qualities to the task."

Oppal has sat on the B.C.Supreme Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The hearing commission will consider the police investigations conducted between Jan. 23, 1997 and Feb. 5, 2002 into women reported missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. It will also review the January 1998 decision by the Ministry of Attorney General's criminal justice branch to stay charges against Robert W. Pickton for the assault of a Downtown Eastside sex trade worker.
The terms of reference of the inquiry to be conducted by the commission are as follows:

(a) to conduct hearings, in or near the City of Vancouver, to inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the conduct of the missing women investigations;
(b) consistent with the British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Davies, 2009 BCCA 337, to inquire into and make findings of fact respecting the decision of the Criminal Justice Branch on January 27, 1998, to enter a stay of proceedings on charges against Robert William Pickton of attempted murder, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and aggravated assault;
(c) to recommend changes considered necessary respecting the initiation and conduct of investigations in British Columbia of missing women and suspected multiple homicides;
(d) to recommend changes considered necessary respecting homicide investigations in British Columbia by more than one investigating organization, including the co-ordination of those investigations;
(e) to submit a final report to the Attorney General or before December 31, 2011.

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Posted on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 09:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: mattyc on September 28 2010 9:59 AM

It looks like maybe this will become the smokescreen distraction they will now bombard us with news of this probably until the HST is over with. My prediction is we get flooded with propaganda about how good the HST is and the rest of the time we going to be hearing about picton. Remember 1991 when we got onto the GST? We were bombarded day after day week after week with quebec and garbage talk about constitutions. Same thing here is unfolding. I dont care about picton. Hes supposed to rot in jail for life so why do we have to hear about him now?
Concentrate on the upcoming recalls that will happen soon. Time for pat bell to leave

Posted by: Andyfreeze on September 28 2010 10:27 AM

Good point mattyc!

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on September 28 2010 10:34 AM

Picton was charged with and convicted of six murders. DNA evidence indicates that more than 20 women were murdered there. The RCMP already admitted that serious mistakes were made after the RCMP had indications that Picton was a suspect.

The relatives of the women who were murdered are not satisfied with that and are demanding a complete independent investigation into the performance of the RCMP and into the other aspects mentioned above.

The present Attorney General decided that he would have an inquiry conducted. The relatives are extremely happy with that decision and said that it help them to achieve some kind of closure.

How this can be interpreted as a smoke screen distraction and propaganda is beyond me.

Anyone who is not interested in any of the Picton stuff anymore can just change the channel or flip the page in the newspaper.

Posted by: gus on September 28 2010 10:54 AM

Prince George: "How this can be interpreted as a smoke screen distraction and propaganda is beyond me."

I do not agree that this is an intentional "smokescreen".

However, the media has finite resources, especially these days when advertising space, the key income which the media relies on, is difficult to sell.

With finite resources, a decision has to be made which sells more, gore or a political party self destructing as they tend to eventually all do.

The interesting part of this one is that it has the potential of tying the two together, which makes it even worse. I hope it won't for Wally Oppal's sake. He is too nice a person.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on September 28 2010 12:14 PM

Good point, Gus! My point is that had they NOT called the inquiry they would be lambasted for that. Now some people think that the calling of an inquiry should be lambasted as some kind of underhanded tactic.

Oppal is the right guy to take it intelligently to a successful conclusion, no matter what the media does or does not.

The media is full of it most of the time anyways. And it is biased, depending on who or what the story is.

Self destruction should not be considered inevitable. The media had it this morning that a reduction of the HST by a point or two is being whispered about on the grapevine and may just tip the scales back in the long run. Probably just some hot air, but one never can be sure with the media!

Posted by: Andyfreeze on September 28 2010 12:52 PM

I don't think calling the inquiry is "underhanded".
I just don't see the point in spending more millions when the outcome is pretty much inevitable.

Posted by: hood rich on September 28 2010 1:16 PM

yes finding corrective measures for this bungling would be a waste.

Posted by: gus on September 28 2010 1:47 PM

With respect to the HST agreement with the Feds, as I understand it, the Province can reduce or increase the provincial component across the board. It can also reduce or increase a sectoral component if it is easily identifiable for accounting purposes.

Things are also not all quiet on the eastern front - Ontario. We are not alone. I think there will be some re-adjustment before the elections in both cases.

As far as the inquiry goes, I think it needs to happen. The millions spent will be spent in BC. They are not moving it to Palm Springs, so the money stays in the province other than the purchase of scotch for the lawyers.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on September 28 2010 2:40 PM

I also agree that it needs to happen. Only by identifying how mistakes were made, how the various teams must share information and so forth can we learn how to do a better job by following improved guidelines. Perhaps we also owe that to the victims.

Posted by: BCRacer on September 28 2010 4:27 PM

a Liberal appointed to a position by the Liberals...
O yes, I think something stinks

Posted by: IAM on September 28 2010 4:47 PM

Several items come to mind:

1. Wally Oppal is taking on the impossible, and I wish him well.

2. Family and community healing is important. The marginalized will always be with us, and we don't tend to learn with time. Providing cathartic moments will help, and that goal is achievable.

3. Willy Pickton is mentally challenged. He did not do this himself. Would be great to see some real investigation into organized crime's involvement. That would be money well spent.

Posted by: BCRacer on September 28 2010 5:16 PM

Opal was involved in the pickton case, isn't tthat a bit of a conflict of interest... finding a way to cover his own butt?

Posted by: hood rich on September 28 2010 8:58 PM

how was he involved in the case? quit writing what ever pops in ur head. Its very irresponsible.

Posted by: Rights-in-Peril on September 29 2010 8:38 PM

As AG, Oppal made the decision to free Picton from trial of the severed cases. Further, as a retired appeals court judge, he was instrumental in putting James Williams, an ex-cop turned judge as presiding justice facilitator in the Picton case. I attended some trial dates, and I didn't see proper scrutiny of police investigatory conduct. A Complaint of Attempted Murder was put before Coquitlam RCMP, and it was dropped in spite of the availability of first person testimony and forensic evidence. And Picton's defence to same was weak. Crown Counsel are supposed to ensure that police work product covers all bases, and is designed to yield a "substantial likelihood of conviction." As the Province editorialized this morning, Oppal is too integral to a system that abridges due consideration of the Rights of Complainants. Oppal will whitewash the judicial, prosecutorial, and policial atrocities that flowed from the Picton process swamp.

And I have to say, refusal to investigate a substantiable crime Complaint is an act of Sedition. Cops, prosecutors and judges are not our oligarchs; they are the hired help. Oppal is a pathological elitist. Watch Oppal scream shortly when damaging details emerge. Something will arise that will put him outside of the defence of deniablity.