VANCOUVER – The public inquiry into the Robert Pickton case has been put on hold until April 2 while the commission searches out a lawyer to represent First Nations.
The independent lawyer appointed to represent aboriginal interests resigned last week, and commission Wally Oppal says he doesn’t want the hearing to proceed until a replacement is found.
Oppal says it’s crucial the commission have counsel in place to represent First Nations during the hearings, which are looking into why Pickton wasn’t caught sooner as he murdered sex workers, many of them aboriginal, from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Robyn Gervais, the lawyer appointed to represented aboriginal interests, quit last week, saying the hearings were too heavily focused on police and not on the native women who were overwhelmingly Pickton’s victims.
Commission counsel Art Vertlieb says they’ve identified a lawyer and hope to secure the appointment soon.
Oppal’s report is due by June 30 and he planned to finish hearings by the end of April, but it’s not clear how that timeline will be affected by the three-week delay.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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