The B.C. government says it will provide funding to help with the legal fees of family members of murdered and missing women looking to participate in the Robert Pickton inquiry.

The announcement comes two weeks after a recommendation from inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal that the province provide funding to 13 applicants who sought financial assistance to take part in formal hearings.

The province says there is no legal requirement to provide funding to those who participate in such inquiries but adds the move fits with past practice.

The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry is to look into how police investigated the disappearances of women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside between January 23, 1997, and February 5, 2002.

It is also to examine a January 27, 1998, decision to stay charges against Pickton, who was convicted in 2007 in the murders of six B.C. women.

Oppal’s final report is due by the end of 2011.