The release of Wally Oppal’s scathing final report from B.C.’s missing women inquiry was met with sobbing, drumming, and anger on Dec. 17 as families and friends began the next stage of grieving for their lost ones, and rights groups rallied around the call for a Canada-wide investigation.
Here’s a look back over some of my key stories of the last year.
What would justice look like for B.C.’s missing women inquiry?
Sliammon First Nation members in British Columbia have voted, with 57.5 percent in favor, to accept a treaty settlement.
Eight months after they began, hearings into why police failed to catch serial killer Robert Pickton sooner ended much as they began: with families and aboriginal groups protesting outside.
Co-winning submission, Canadian Journalism Foundation 2012 Excellence in Journalism Award (small media). Describing a ‘turning, wrenching feeling,’ would-be police informant Bill Hiscox reveals to VO what it was like on serial killer Robert ‘Willie’ Pickton’s farm.
Last April, as lawyers prepared for an inquiry into the Pickton investigation, retired street nurse Bonnie Fournier was told to expect a call. Nine days remain, and she’s still waiting.
A US firm with strong Republican ties played down questions after its staff campaigned directly in the 2011 elections. But four of its clients didn’t report the expense, and three still remain secret.
U.S. directors from Front Porch Strategies worked “in the trenches” for Tory candidates in 2011, going door to door and openly campaigning for Conservative candidates, the firm’s Canadian liason said.
The Pickton inquiry faced a new setback today, as the lawyer for Aboriginal interests quit – the latest in a string of boycotts and criticisms which some say has cost the commission its legitimacy.
David P Ball 