Missing Women Inquiry full of harassment: former staff

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The head of the Missing Women Inquiry and families of missing and murdered women say they are shocked by claims of sexism and harassment within the inquiry office itself.

The damning claims come in an article in the National Post.

Five former commission staff members, all unnamed, claim people were harassed and intimidated behind closed doors, while male staff members made offensive comments about women. One of the complainants says a senior commission staffer referred to a local sex trade worker as “the fat hooker.”

Commissioner Wally Oppal says he first heard of the claims on Friday when told by commission lawyer Art Vertlieb.

“I am appalled by it as well and we have appointed an independent investigator [lawyer Delayne Sartison] to examine those,” he said this morning.

Oppal says like any office, there have been budget pressures, personality conflicts and contracts that were not renewed, but there is no tolerance for the kind of behaviour described in the article.

“We will not let these allegations shift our focus over the coming days and weeks from what we are here to achieve – to gather relevant information so that a valuable report can be produced that will have effective recommendations,” Oppal says in a statement. “We all need to remember our objective here – we are here to save the lives of our most vulnerable citizens.”

The inquiry was set up to examine why it took so long for police to catch serial murderer Robert Pickton as he preyed on sex trade workers on the Downtown Eastside. It has come under fire from First Nations groups, many of whom have boycotted it.

Last month, lawyer Robyn Gervais, appointed to represent aboriginal interests, quit, claiming the proceedings had become dominated by police with little input from First Nations or Downtown Eastside groups.

Lilliane Beaudoin, whose sister Dianne Rock was murdered by Pickton, says the inquiry doesn’t need any more controversy.

“With…all the ups and downs, we feel like we’re on a roller coaster and it’s never-ending,” she explains. “Imagine, we’re here for an inquiry about murdered girls and we’re finding out this information. We don’t want, nor do we need, any more problems than what [we’re] already having here.”

Beaudoin is also calling for the provincial government to extend the inquiry beyond the end of June deadline. “We need that extension. We need to further get into details as to everything that’s going on.”

However, Attorney General Shirley Bond says the inquiry will not be extended, saying she’s confident Oppal can deliver his report on time.

Ernie Crey, whose sister Dawn’s DNA was found on Pickton’s farm, says the harassment claims by former inquiry staff members are disturbing but notes they are made anonymously.

“I’ve asked the aboriginal leadership to get in touch with the inquiry to find out if there’s any foundation to this because they’re very serious allegations,” Crey says. “I’d like to know if there’s any foundation to them. And if there is, of course, it makes the inquiry look terrible.”

However, Crey says he wants Oppal to soldier on, “and produce a really worthwhile report at the end with recommendations about how policing can be improved so we hopefully never see a repeat of the tragedy we’ve seen unfold here.”

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