Provincial report details actions prompted by B.C. missing women inquiry

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      Training initiatives for victim support workers and police officers are among the measures underway stemming from Wally Oppal's report on the B.C. missing women inquiry, according to the provincial government.

      A report released by the B.C. Ministry of Justice today (December 4) indicates that work is ongoing or completed on more than three quarters of the recommendations issued by Oppal.

      Victim support workers across B.C. are currently receiving training to “enhance supports” to families of missing and murdered people, the document states.

      “Indigenous cultural competency” training development is underway for staff working in the justice system, and cultural competency is also being integrated into training for police officers, according to the ministry.

      An advisory committee consisting of organizations including the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association has been formed to help develop provincial policing standards for missing persons’ investigations and inter-agency cooperation, the document states.

      Ernie Crey noted that Oppal's report spoke to police failures in the investigations of women who went missing from the Downtown Eastside in the years leading up to Robert Pickton's arrest. The DNA of Crey's sister Dawn was found on Pickton's farm.

      "Oppal made recommendations in regard to policing," said Crey. "If Victoria, the RCMP and municipal policing forces don't learn to work together now and in the future, we could see another Pickton emerge."

      Crey described the measures outlined in the government's report as lacking an overall strategy.

      "Generally, their list of initiatives comes across as a potpourri of measures garnered from shopping lists of community service groups," he said, noting he's glad that some of the children of missing and murdered women are receiving financial compensation.

      B.C. Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton said in a statement that while today's report is the final update on steps taken by the province to address Oppal's recommendations, "action on his recommendations will continue".

      "For example, I can tell you that our review of how policing is structured and funded in this province continues," she said.

      Other measures outlined in the report include the launch of a new website focused on transit information along Highway 16 in northern B.C.

      Oppal urged the provincial government to develop an enhanced public transit system along the corridor, where many women have gone missing or been murdered.

      The Carrier Sekani Family Services was given $75,000 in funding to support increased access to driver education and driver licensing programs, and cell coverage has been expanded, with 69 percent of the highway now with cell reception.

      Federal funding has also been secured for families of missing and murdered women, including $120,000 for the Carrier Sekani Family Services for initiatives including training for first responders.

      Some of the previously announced actions undertaken by the province include a compensation fund for the children of missing and murdered women, with $50,000 offered to each of the biological children of the women identified in Oppal’s report. The report indicates that 77 people are currently in the compensation process.

      Previous steps also include the allocation of $750,000 in annual funding to the WISH Drop-In Centre Society, close to $400,000 for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and $450,000 for other organizations that support survival sex-trade workers.

      B.C.’s Missing Person Act, which received Royal Assent in March, is aimed at helping police find missing people sooner.

      The B.C. government will not appoint a new “champion” to ensure that further recommendations from Oppal’s report are implemented. Advocacy groups called for this measure after Steven Point stepped down from the position.

      The province is also opting not to launch further research and feasibility studies, as called for in some of Oppal’s recommendations. The government says it will rely instead on “the current body of knowledge stemming from recent studies and reports”.

      Oppal issued 63 official recommendations in his final report on the inquiry, which identified “blatant failures” with police investigations of women reported missing from the Downtown Eastside before Pickton’s arrest.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Forgetting something, Wally?

      Dec 5, 2014 at 10:57am

      PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?

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