Vancouver East MP Libby Davies says former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal will likely face scrutiny in his role as head of the public inquiry into the Robert Pickton serial killings.

“I think there may be concerns that because of his former association as a minister with the government, he’s going to have to demonstrate that he is truly independent,” Davies told the Straight by phone from Ottawa.

“He’s there to represent the public interest, and he will have to show all of us that that’s what he is going to do,” she said.

B.C.’s current attorney general, Michael de Jong, announced Oppal’s appointment today (September 28) as commissioner of the missing women inquiry, which will examine police investigations and make recommendations. A final report is expected in late 2011.

Oppal was attorney general from 2005 to 2009 and has served on the B.C. Supreme Court and on the B.C. Court of Appeal. In the 1990s, he led an inquiry into policing in B.C.

De Jong was not available for comment and Oppal did not immediately return a call from the Straight. But Oppal has defended his ability to remain impartial, according to a CKNW report.

Meanwhile, Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council, welcomed Oppal’s appointment.

“I think those of us who’ve followed him know that he’s a man of integrity, really a groundbreaking person in many ways,” said Wong, who participated as a witness during Oppal’s policing inquiry.

“I’m sure that he will, given the proper resources, get to the bottom of this. It will be a sound inquiry,” Wong told the Straight by phone. “I would urge all of the parties to work with this process because I think that the appointment is a very solid one.”

Speaking with the Straight, Davies also raised concerns the scope of the Pickton public inquiry is too narrow.

According to details the Ministry of Attorney General released today, the inquiry is to examine how, from January 23, 1997 to February 5, 2002, police investigated the disappearances from the Downtown Eastside.

The inquiry is also to look into a decision in 1998 to stay charges for the assault of a sex trade worker against Pickton, who was eventually convicted on six murder counts and lost an appeal to Canada’s top court.

Davies said the missing women issue reaches back to the 1980s and involves broad questions about prejudice toward sex trade workers and policing.

She also expressed uncertainty about the role Downtown Eastside groups and relatives of missing women will play in the inquiry process.

“We’ve fought long and hard for a public inquiry,” said Davies, who was first elected as Vancouver East MP in 1997 and served on Vancouver city council throughout the 1980s.

“It’s got to be a public inquiry that means something, most of all to the very people who are impacted.”