VANCOUVER - A lawyer representing family members of several women murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton, as well as others for whose murders he will never face trial, will have full standing at a public inquiry into the missing women case.
Lawyer Cameron Ward will represent the families of eight women whose deaths were linked to Pickton or his Port Coquitlam farm.
Wally Oppal, the head of the missing women inquiry, says a total of 10 groups will have full standing, including the Vancouver Police Department, the federal and provincial governments, the Vancouver Police Union, a coalition of organizations serving sex-trade workers, and criminal profiler and former Vancouver police officer Kim Rossmo.
Groups and individuals given full standing will have access to all documents, the ability to make submissions and to cross-examine witnesses.
Another eight groups, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Assembly of First Nations, have been granted limited standing, which will allow them access to documents and the right to make final submissions.
The two-part inquiry is expected to begin in northern B.C. in mid-June and Oppal is supposed to report to the government by the end of the year.
