B.C. auditor general tells province to follow through on missing women inquiry
Province has stopped reporting progress in addressing murders and disappearances of 67 women
British Columbia's auditor general is criticizing the provincial government for not providing regular updates on the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, tasked to examine the murders and disappearances of 67 women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Carol Bellringer said B.C. still has an obligation to produce progress reports in order to meet more than 60 recommendations that came out of the inquiry.
"We feel there is still a need for government to share it's progress," she said. "So many families are impacted by these tragedies."
The government stopped its reporting in 2014, two years after former Attorney General Wally Oppal presented 63 recommendations in a report entitled "Forsaken".
Bellringer did applauded the province for providing compensation for the families of victims, many of whom were murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton.
But she also pointed out the province has failed to establish a regional police force, something many believe could have helped catch Pickton earlier.
A federal inquiry into missing and murdered women is set to begin in the spring.
With files from Richard Zussman