B.C. orders Pickton public inquiry

There will be a public inquiry into the flawed police investigation that allowed serial killer Robert Pickton to continue hunting sex workers, B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong said Thursday.

The province has ordered hearings to examine how police handled reports of women disappearing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and being lured to Pickton's farm in nearby Port Coquitlam.

"This is a situation in which upwards of 50 human beings went missing. We believe many if not all of those individuals were murdered," de Jong told reporters following a provincial cabinet meeting in Victoria.

"There are still lingering questions about the nature of these investigations, questions about whether more could have been done sooner; are we in a position to learn from the investigations and mistakes that may have been made.

"The government has taken the view that the best vehicle by which that can be accomplished is a public inquiry."

De Jong declined to reveal who will oversee the inquiry, which will have the power to compel testimony from witnesses. Public inquiries are governed by legislation but the government is not compelled to take any advice or recommendations that come out of an inquiry.

It has not been made clearhow soon the Pickton inquiry might begin.

Pickton wasconvicted of murderingsix women between the late 1990s and 2002. He had been charged with another 20 killings, but the Crown chose only to prosecute the cases that would most likely to lead to conviction.

Hewas convicted of sixsecond-degree murder charges in 2007.

Maggie Devries's sister Sarah was one ofthe 33women whose DNA or remainspolice say werefound on the Pickton farm. Shehad gone missing in 1998. Devriessaid Thursday that victims' families need an inquiry.

"Robert Pickton is one part of the problem," Devries told CBC News. "What went wrong withthe investigation is the other part."

Kate Gibson, executive director of the Women's Education and Safe House in Vancouver, was very pleasedabout the announced inquiry.

"I think it's just huge that they will be doing this," she said. "I think for all kinds of individuals, this is a very necessary next step."

Police knew of Pickton

It was revealed in July that in 1997, police and the Crown had strong reason to suspect the Port Coquitlam pig farmer was involved inthe slayings of sex workers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, butdid not pursue an investigation.

In August, Vancouver police admitted they made a number of serious mistakes in the investigation and also laid blame on the RCMP, which has police jurisdiction in Port Coquitlam.

The RCMP has not publicly responded to the Vancouver police statement.

After Pickton was arrested in 2002, police conducteda massive search of his sprawling farm and found the remains or DNA of 33 women.

But the extensive investigation that followed the discovery of dismembered bodies and personal items from missing women stood in contrast to what many, including the victims' families, have long complained was the failure of Vancouver police and the RCMP to catch Pickton sooner.

Pickton's convictions were upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in July and prosecutors have said they don't intend to pursue any further criminal charges.