FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Volume IV The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry VOLUME IV The Commission’s Process The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner British Columbia November 19, 2012 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Forsaken [electronic resource] : the report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry / Wally T. Oppal, Commissioner. Complete contents: Vol. I. The women, their lives and the framework of inquiry, setting the context for understanding and change - v. II. Nobodies, how and why we failed the missing and murdered women - v. III. Gone, but not forgotten, building the women’s legacy of safety together - v. IV. The Commission’s process. - Executive summary. Issued also in printed form. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-9917299-7-5 1. Serial murder investigation--British Columbia. 2. Missing persons--Investigation --British Columbia. 3. Murder victims--British Columbia. 4. Pickton, Robert William. 5. British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. 6. Downtown-Eastside (Vancouver, B.C.). 7. Governmental investigations--British Columbia. I. Oppal, Wallace T II. Title. HV6762 B75 B75 2012 363.25’9523209711 C2012-980202-6 Access to Report Please contact the following if you are interested in receiving a copy of the report or a CD-ROM of the report: Distribution Centre-Victoria PO Box 9455 STN PROV GOVT Victoria, BC V8W 9V7 Phone: 250 952 4460 Toll free: 1 800 282 7955 Fax: 250 952 4431 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.bcsolutions.gov.bc.ca/opc/ For general inquiries, please call Service BC Call Centre Hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST – Monday through Friday In Victoria call: 250 387 6121 In Vancouver call: 604 660 2421 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 663 7867 Outside British Columbia call: 1 604 660 2421 Email address: [email protected] Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) In Vancouver call: 604 775 0303 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 661 8773 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1 – THE COMMISSION’S PROCESS ...............................................................................2 The Nature of a Public Inquiry .....................................................................................2 Principles that govern public inquiries .........................................................................2 The unique processes of public inquiries ....................................................................3 The Commission’s Mandate ...........................................................................................4 The Phases in the Inquiry .............................................................................................6 Setting Up .....................................................................................................................6 a. Appointment of commission counsel ...................................................................6 b. Hiring staff ...........................................................................................................6 c. Website ................................................................................................................7 Practice and Procedure .................................................................................................7 The Participants .............................................................................................................8 Government Funding Decision ......................................................................................9 Document Collection ..................................................................................................10 Protecting confidential and privileged information .....................................................11 Document management ............................................................................................12 Document analysts ....................................................................................................12 Document access ......................................................................................................12 Making the documents public – marking exhibits ......................................................12 Witnesses ...................................................................................................................13 Lay witnesses .............................................................................................................13 Expert witnesses .........................................................................................................15 Police witnesses .........................................................................................................17 Whether all material witnesses were called ...............................................................17 Conduct of the Hearings .............................................................................................17 Examinations .............................................................................................................18 Panels ........................................................................................................................20 Time limits .................................................................................................................22 Affidavits ...................................................................................................................23 Notices of misconduct ...............................................................................................23 Summary ...................................................................................................................23 Closing submissions ...................................................................................................23 The Study Commission ...............................................................................................24 Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................26 APPENDICES .........................................................................................................................28 A. Terms of Reference ........................................................................................................28 B. Practice and Procedure Directive for Evidentiary Hearings ............................................30 C. Undertaking of Counsel and Confidentiality Agreement re: Documents ........................39 D. Document Vetting Protocol ...........................................................................................43 E. Instruction Letters to Experts ..........................................................................................47 E-1. Prof. John Lowman ...............................................................................................47 E-2. Dr. Kate Shannon .................................................................................................51 E-3. Dr. Thomas Kerr ...................................................................................................54 F. Process Management Directives ....................................................................................56 F-1. Process Management Directive 1 (January 11, 2012) ............................................56 F-2. Process Management Directive 2 (January 24, 2012) ............................................58 F-3. Process Management Directive 3 (February 11, 2012) ..........................................61 F-4. Process Management Directive 4 (April 16, 2012) ................................................66 F-5. Process Management Directive 5 (April 25, 2012) ................................................67 F-6. Process Management Directive 6 ........................................................................70 G. Rulings .........................................................................................................................76 G-1. Ruling on Participation and Funding Recommendations (May 2, 2011) ...............76 G-2. Ruling on Participation – Ms. Marion Bryce (August 18, 2011) ..........................102 G-3. Ruling on Participation – Cst. Doug Fell (September 21, 2011) ..........................104 G-4. Ruling on Vulnerable Witness Protection Application (November 16, 2011) ......105 G-5. Ruling on Document Disclosure Application (March 2, 2012) ...........................112 G-6. Ruling on Shenher Manuscript Application (May 18, 2012) ...............................122 G-7. Ruling on Admissibility of the Murray Report (May 24, 2012) ............................125 G-8. Ruling on Participation – Richard Romano ........................................................129 H. Status Reports .............................................................................................................131 H-1. Status Report (March 3, 2011) ...........................................................................131 H-2. Status Report (June 20, 2011) ............................................................................143 PART 2 – OTHER COMMISSION DOCUMENTS .................................................................156 A. Commission Personnel ................................................................................................156 B. Participants and Counsel .............................................................................................157