The Missing Women inquiry will consult with First Nations and the families of Native victim as part of its investigation into serial killer Robert Pickton.

A number of Pickton's victims were Native women from British Columbia. Some had been reported as missing for years and many of their cases went unsolved.

Attorney Art Vertlieb announced the development after Native leaders and activists said they haven't been consulted during the process. They have been disturbed by the appointment of Wally Oppal, a former Supreme Court judge and Attorney General, to lead the Missing Women inquiry.

“Wally Oppal is a government insider, and he was part of the criminal justice system that didn’t investigate why so many First Nations women were going missing and being murdered,” Gladys Radek, the organizer of the annual Walk 4 Justice, told The Vancouver Province.

“We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into getting an inquiry so when Wally Oppal was named it was like a slap in the face,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, told the paper.

Get the Story:
Pickton inquiry will talk with First Nations groups (The Vancouver Province 10/6)
Missing Women inquiry wants to hear from aboriginal leaders, families of victims (The Vancouver Sun 10/6)