[Viva] Fwd: [Wamvan] Fwd: News Alert - Community Groups Sidelined by Funding Decision in Missing Women Inquiry

[Tami Starlight]

West Coast LEAF


News Alert


August 10, 2011


West Coast LEAF small logo


West Coast LEAF and EVA BC withdraw from Missing Women Inquiry



The Ending Violence Association of BC (EVA BC ) and  West Coast LEAF  (the
Coalition) have withdrawn from the Missing Women Inquiry , citing the
government's failure to provide funding for counsel for community groups
(full letter below).


Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal granted standing to 13 community groups and
recommended that these groups receive funding commensurate with their
differing levels of participation.  Commissioner Oppal found that the
participation of these groups was necessary to the work of the Commission
and that they required counsel in order to participate.


However, on July 22, Deputy Attorney General David Loukidelis confirmed the
government's decision not to fund any of the 13 groups.


"The failure to fund counsel for Aboriginal, sex worker and front line
women's organizations essentially shuts these groups out of the Inquiry,"
says EVA BC Executive Director Tracy Porteous. "We will not participate in
an Inquiry that will not listen to the voices of those who were closest to
the missing and murdered women and their communities."


"Contrary to Premier Clarke's recent statements on the importance of
Aboriginal women's safety, the government's decision on funding indicates
that they don't take seriously the safety of Aboriginal women, sex workers
and women living in poverty," says Kasari Govender of West Coast LEAF.  "The
failure to provide adequate resources at this early stage does not bode well
for the government's commitment to implementing the Commissioner's final
recommendations."


The Attorney General of BC's decision to only fund the victims' families
means that one lawyer would represent all non-police Inquiry participants.
By comparison, last year's Cohen Inquiry into missing salmon stocks provided
funding for in excess of 26 lawyers to be involved representing various
perspectives.


Letter to commission:


Dear Commissioner Oppal,


Re: Withdrawal of participation


We are writing to withdraw our participation in the Missing Women Inquiry.


Ending Violence Association of BC and West Coast LEAF were deeply
disappointed to read Deputy Attorney General Mr. Loukidelis' letter of July
22, 2011 confirming the government's decision to deny funding to the 13
groups to whom you granted standing.  Without funding for counsel, these
groups are essentially shut out of the Inquiry process. While we very much
support the Families' interests in uncovering the truth of what happened to
their daughters, our coalition cannot participate in an Inquiry into the
deaths of so many marginalized women when the Inquiry lacks the essential
participation of Aboriginal groups, sex worker groups, and front line
women's organizations.


The Commission's announcement on August 2, 2011 that it would be hiring
counsel to "present the perspectives" of Aboriginal women and the Downtown
Eastside community is insufficient to meet our concerns about the
community's lack of voice in this process.  These broad categories of
community voices do not do justice to the long and nuanced histories that
each of the different participant groups speak from.  The diversity of the
community participants will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to
represent as amicus counsel.  The problems in the justice system that give
rise to the Commission's mandate were born of women being silenced; without
the ability to instruct counsel and have counsel directly represent their
(diverse) views, the voices of marginalized women are again being co-opted
and silenced.


We are extremely concerned that the government's failure to commit the
necessary resources to this Commission is an indication that the government
is failing to take women's safety seriously, particularly the safety of
Aboriginal women, sex workers and women living in poverty.  The failure to
provide adequate resources at this early stage does not bode well for the
government's commitment to implementing the recommendations of the
Commission in your final report.  While we appreciate your efforts to
persuade the government to decide otherwise, the denial of funding and the
silencing of community voices undermines the credibility of the work of the
Commission.  The truth cannot be obtained without the participation of those
who were closest to the victims and their communities, and we cannot move
forward without uncovering the truth of what happened in the past.


>From the perspective of this coalition, this Inquiry is significant because
it could be a in a position to uncover and remedy the systemic reasons for
the police failures to properly investigate the cases of these missing and
murdered women.  It is no secret that the groups that have essentially been
shut out of this process would have drawn your attention to the many layers
of discrimination and disadvantage that these women and their communities
suffered, and drawn the clear connections between this inequality and the
justice system's failure to protect them from sexual and violent predators
such as Mr. Pickton.  It is no secret that the groups that have essentially
been shut out of this process would have been critical of police and
government conduct during the years in question in regard to these
particular women in these particular communities.  It is deeply unfortunate
that the government's decision not to fund these groups may act to insulate
the justice system from this vitally necessary critique.


Despite government claims to the contrary, the Inquiry will be responsible
for presiding over adversarial issues of considerable controversy for which
counsel is required to represent the participants' various interests.   The
government's failure to fund community participants, while public funds are
being used to finance representation of police and government counsel, will
result in a lopsided and inaccurate account of these highly charged issues.


On this basis and with regret, West Coast LEAF and Ending Violence
Association of BC will no longer be participating in this Inquiry.










About West Coast LEAF


West Coast LEAF's mission is to achieve equality by changing historic
patterns of discrimination against women through BC based equality rights
litigation, law reform and public legal education.





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Meegwetch/Thank you/Merci
*Tami M. Starlight*
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