How to investigate evil

A inquiry has been called into why Robert Pickton wasn't stopped sooner, but the man picked to head the commission is already causing controversy.

As Canadians weigh the virtues of decriminalizing prostitution, proponents of legalization are bringing up one name: Robert Pickton. We’ll never know if liberalized prostitution laws would have prevented Pickton from murdering upwards of 40 sex workers, but there’s reason to believe much better policing would have. B.C. has launched an inquiry into why police didn’t stop Pickton sooner, but the appointment Tuesday of former Liberal attorney-general Wally Oppal as head of the commission has stirred controversy.

Despite, or rather because of his extensive experience as a judge, lawyer, attorney-general from 2005-2009, Oppal is “the wrong person for the job,” says an editorial in the Province. He is “simply too intertwined with the very system that many believe was ineffective in stopping (Pickton)” to be objective. The paper argues that the point of the inquiry is to restore the people’s faith in their legal system, and “the appointment of the ultimate insider … is a terrible place to begin.”

Not only was Oppal the wrong choice, says a Victoria Times Colonist editorial, but inquiry’s narrow mandate “rules out recommendations for more sweeping change, including the creation of a regional police force.” Lack of cooperation between fragmented forces in the Vancouver area is often cited as a reason Pickton was free for so long. The paper also laments that “the terms of reference prevent the commission from addressing other relevant issues, such as the role our views and policies around the sex trade and addiction played in making it easier for Pickton to kill.”

The Globe and Mail disagrees, and in an editorial today argues Oppal “will give the inquiry more power, not less, because he has been at the centre of B.C.’s political and legal worlds for some years now.” The editors say that as attorney general, Oppal’s job was to defend the public’s rights, not his party’s, and he has a proven record of rising above partisanship. “Weighed against the qualities he brings to his role,” they write, “any perception of a conflict shouldn’t count for much.”