British Columbia’s Highway of Tears is a seminal case study for understanding the systemic treatment of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears, is a 724-kilometer stretch of road that connects Prince George to Prince Rupert. A sparsely populated area, public transportation is lacking and it is common for people to hitchhike to get from place to place. This stretch of highway is well known for its high levels of crime and the devastation on local communities is exemplified in its name. Vancouver Sun reporter Neal Hall wrote that after driving Highway 16 he thought, “This is the perfect place, if somebody were hitchhiking, to pick them up, kill them and ditch them somewhere in the bush.”[1] There have been an estimated forty cases of missing or murdered women along this route, most of whom are Aboriginal. According to a 2013 Human Rights Watch report entitled ‘Those Who Take Us Away,’ the police have formally dealt with 18 of these cases and there are instances of police brutality involved in addressing their handling. This issue intrinsically effects the population in the surrounding area of Northern British Columbia and creates a culture of fear surrounding the highway. In the film Finding Dawn, Christine Welsh interviews a woman who talks about the necessity of keeping her car up to date in case of a breakdown along this stretch of road.
I. Disappearance of Nicole Hoar
In 2002, a tree planter named Nicole Hoar disappeared while hitchhiking from Prince George to Smithers. According to Mediasmarts Thinktank, “The first time papers like The Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal and The Vancouver Sun really covered the Highway of Tears was in 2002, when [Nicole] Hoar, a 25-year-old [White]… woman, vanished.””[2] Hoar’s disappearance launched the Highway of Tears into the public consciousness in 2002 and media attention started to gather speed.
II. Project E-PANA[3]
Triggered by growing media attention to the issue, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched Project E-PANA in 2005. This is significant considering that the first case it concentrated on was committed in 1969. E-PANA covers 13 homicide investigations and 5 cases of missing persons and spans from 1969 to 2006. In addition to the infamous Highway 16, disappearances along Highways 97 and 5 have been added to E-PANA’s investigation. The personal criteria for a case to be investigated by Project E-PANA is that it must occur near to one of those highways, the victim must be female and they must have been involved in hitchhiking or “other high risk behaviour.”[4]According to the RCMP website, E-PANA is focused on the following cases:
Gloria Moody (homicide, last seen alive October of 1969); Micheline Pare (last seen 1970); Gale Weys (last seen October of 1973, remains found in April of 1974); Pamela Darlington (remains located November of 1973); Monica Ignas (last seen alive in December of 1974 and her remains were found in April of 1975); Colleen MacMillen (last seen alive in August of 1974 and her remains were found in September of 1974); Monica Jack (remains were located in 1995); Maureen Mosie (remains found in May of 1981); Shelley-Anne Bascu (disappeared in 1983); Alberta Williams (body located September of 1989); Delphine Nikal (last seen June of 1990); Ramona Wilson (last seen alive June of 1994, body located April of 1995); Roxanne Thiara (remains were found in August of 1994); Alishia Germaine (found murdered in 1994); Lana Derrick (last seen October of 1995); Nicole Hoar (last seen in June of 2002); Tamara Chipman (last seen September of 2005); Aielah Saric Auger (body was discovered in February of 2006).[5]
The RCMP has noted that they do not suspect that a single killer is behind the murders and disappearances. Project E-PANA’s website states that none of these cases are regarded as cold cases and all will be kept open until there is sufficient evidence to lay charges.
III. Possible Suspects
Project E-PANA has had two marked successes with identifying suspects for crimes committed against Aboriginal women. In 2012, RCMP officially linked the death of Colleen MacMillen from Lac La Hache with a DNA match from Bobby Jack Fowler, a US citizen serving a 16-year sentence for sexual assault and kidnapping at the time of his death in 2006. Fowler is also a suspect in the murders of Gale Weys and Pamela Darlington.[6]
On November 28th, 2014, the RCMP charged Garry Taylor Handlen from Ontario with the murders of Monica Jack and Kathryn-Mary Herbert.[7] They stated that Handlen had initially been suspected but there had not been enough evidence to charge him in the original investigation.
IV. Funding for Project E-PANA
Recent BC provincial cuts to the RCMP have severely impacted Project E-PANA. In the last two years the cuts have reportedly amounted to a reduction of 84% of the original budget. At its peak in 2009/10, E-PANA was allotted $5 million in funding. According to Lori Culbert, reporting for the Vancouver Sun, funding for E-PANA has fallen to $806,109 for 2013/14.[8] These cuts have meant a reduction from 70 officers assigned to the task force in 2005, to 12 last year, with the possibility of that number going down to 6 in 2015. This has lead the provincial NDP to criticize premier Christy Clark’s actions. While her party has supported the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women, internal cuts to funding do not suggest governmental support about changing the situation.
V. Recommendations
A recommendation that has been made by various groups over the years and has still failed to receive provincial funding is a bus route connecting Prince George to Prince Rupert along Highway 16. Currently Greyhound runs one bus daily along this route, which runs west during the night and east during the day. Tickets along this route for the month of December range upwards of $120 round trip if they are bought on the web. The standard fare is closer to $250. For people living below the poverty line, traveling for essentials such as healthcare and living supplies along this route is an added expense. As early as 2006, the Highway of Tears symposium report proposed that a free bus service be provided between the two major cities, with stops all along the way in smaller communities.[9] Missing Women Commissioner Wally Oppal’s final report published in 2012 recommended the installation of a public shuttle bus along Highway 16, though local First Nations groups report that as of April 2014 they have not seen any further action by the provincial government.[10]
VI. Conclusion
The crimes committed along BC’s Highway of Tears represent a microcosm of crimes against Aboriginal women across Canada. They are preventable, horrendous and affect generations to come. The women that go missing are primarily young Aboriginal women. This phenomenon permeates throughout Canadian rural society and is representative multiple levels of failure. The case of Project E-PANA shows us how the pulling of provincial funding can impact the probability of retroactively solving these crimes committed against women. Recommendations from the Missing Women’s Inquiry final report in 2012 have not been put into place by the government even though it has long been acknowledged that a public bus service could improve safety for people in this area.
[1] Ryerson Review of Journalism. “Highway of Tears Revisited,” accessed December 16th, 20014, http://rrj.ca/highway-of-tears-revisited/
[2] Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy, “Media Portrayals of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women,” accessed December 16th, 2014, http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/media-portrayals-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women
[3]Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[4] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[5] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[6] National Post. “With one murder solved, difficult Highway of Tears’ investigations go on.” September 25, 2012. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/with-one-murder-solved-difficult-highway-of-tears-investigations-go-on/
[7] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1075&languageId=1&contentId=39704
[8]The Vancouver Sun. “Police budget, officers cut in Highway of Tears probe.” September 13, 2014. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+budget+officers+Highway+Tears+probe/10196415/story.html
[9] Raven’s Eye. “Free buses proposed for Highway of Tears.” 2006. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.ammsa.com/publications/ravens-eye/free-buses-proposed-highway-tears
[10]The Vancouver Sun. “Highway of Tears cries out for public shuttle bus.” April 23, 2014. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Highway+Tears+cries+public+shuttle/9768725/story.html
I. Disappearance of Nicole Hoar
In 2002, a tree planter named Nicole Hoar disappeared while hitchhiking from Prince George to Smithers. According to Mediasmarts Thinktank, “The first time papers like The Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal and The Vancouver Sun really covered the Highway of Tears was in 2002, when [Nicole] Hoar, a 25-year-old [White]… woman, vanished.””[2] Hoar’s disappearance launched the Highway of Tears into the public consciousness in 2002 and media attention started to gather speed.
II. Project E-PANA[3]
Triggered by growing media attention to the issue, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched Project E-PANA in 2005. This is significant considering that the first case it concentrated on was committed in 1969. E-PANA covers 13 homicide investigations and 5 cases of missing persons and spans from 1969 to 2006. In addition to the infamous Highway 16, disappearances along Highways 97 and 5 have been added to E-PANA’s investigation. The personal criteria for a case to be investigated by Project E-PANA is that it must occur near to one of those highways, the victim must be female and they must have been involved in hitchhiking or “other high risk behaviour.”[4]According to the RCMP website, E-PANA is focused on the following cases:
Gloria Moody (homicide, last seen alive October of 1969); Micheline Pare (last seen 1970); Gale Weys (last seen October of 1973, remains found in April of 1974); Pamela Darlington (remains located November of 1973); Monica Ignas (last seen alive in December of 1974 and her remains were found in April of 1975); Colleen MacMillen (last seen alive in August of 1974 and her remains were found in September of 1974); Monica Jack (remains were located in 1995); Maureen Mosie (remains found in May of 1981); Shelley-Anne Bascu (disappeared in 1983); Alberta Williams (body located September of 1989); Delphine Nikal (last seen June of 1990); Ramona Wilson (last seen alive June of 1994, body located April of 1995); Roxanne Thiara (remains were found in August of 1994); Alishia Germaine (found murdered in 1994); Lana Derrick (last seen October of 1995); Nicole Hoar (last seen in June of 2002); Tamara Chipman (last seen September of 2005); Aielah Saric Auger (body was discovered in February of 2006).[5]
The RCMP has noted that they do not suspect that a single killer is behind the murders and disappearances. Project E-PANA’s website states that none of these cases are regarded as cold cases and all will be kept open until there is sufficient evidence to lay charges.
III. Possible Suspects
Project E-PANA has had two marked successes with identifying suspects for crimes committed against Aboriginal women. In 2012, RCMP officially linked the death of Colleen MacMillen from Lac La Hache with a DNA match from Bobby Jack Fowler, a US citizen serving a 16-year sentence for sexual assault and kidnapping at the time of his death in 2006. Fowler is also a suspect in the murders of Gale Weys and Pamela Darlington.[6]
On November 28th, 2014, the RCMP charged Garry Taylor Handlen from Ontario with the murders of Monica Jack and Kathryn-Mary Herbert.[7] They stated that Handlen had initially been suspected but there had not been enough evidence to charge him in the original investigation.
IV. Funding for Project E-PANA
Recent BC provincial cuts to the RCMP have severely impacted Project E-PANA. In the last two years the cuts have reportedly amounted to a reduction of 84% of the original budget. At its peak in 2009/10, E-PANA was allotted $5 million in funding. According to Lori Culbert, reporting for the Vancouver Sun, funding for E-PANA has fallen to $806,109 for 2013/14.[8] These cuts have meant a reduction from 70 officers assigned to the task force in 2005, to 12 last year, with the possibility of that number going down to 6 in 2015. This has lead the provincial NDP to criticize premier Christy Clark’s actions. While her party has supported the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women, internal cuts to funding do not suggest governmental support about changing the situation.
V. Recommendations
A recommendation that has been made by various groups over the years and has still failed to receive provincial funding is a bus route connecting Prince George to Prince Rupert along Highway 16. Currently Greyhound runs one bus daily along this route, which runs west during the night and east during the day. Tickets along this route for the month of December range upwards of $120 round trip if they are bought on the web. The standard fare is closer to $250. For people living below the poverty line, traveling for essentials such as healthcare and living supplies along this route is an added expense. As early as 2006, the Highway of Tears symposium report proposed that a free bus service be provided between the two major cities, with stops all along the way in smaller communities.[9] Missing Women Commissioner Wally Oppal’s final report published in 2012 recommended the installation of a public shuttle bus along Highway 16, though local First Nations groups report that as of April 2014 they have not seen any further action by the provincial government.[10]
VI. Conclusion
The crimes committed along BC’s Highway of Tears represent a microcosm of crimes against Aboriginal women across Canada. They are preventable, horrendous and affect generations to come. The women that go missing are primarily young Aboriginal women. This phenomenon permeates throughout Canadian rural society and is representative multiple levels of failure. The case of Project E-PANA shows us how the pulling of provincial funding can impact the probability of retroactively solving these crimes committed against women. Recommendations from the Missing Women’s Inquiry final report in 2012 have not been put into place by the government even though it has long been acknowledged that a public bus service could improve safety for people in this area.
[1] Ryerson Review of Journalism. “Highway of Tears Revisited,” accessed December 16th, 20014, http://rrj.ca/highway-of-tears-revisited/
[2] Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy, “Media Portrayals of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women,” accessed December 16th, 2014, http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/media-portrayals-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women
[3]Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[4] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[5] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1525
[6] National Post. “With one murder solved, difficult Highway of Tears’ investigations go on.” September 25, 2012. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/with-one-murder-solved-difficult-highway-of-tears-investigations-go-on/
[7] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Missing and Murdered Women: A National Operational Overview, 2013-2014. http://bc.cb.rcmp grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1075&languageId=1&contentId=39704
[8]The Vancouver Sun. “Police budget, officers cut in Highway of Tears probe.” September 13, 2014. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+budget+officers+Highway+Tears+probe/10196415/story.html
[9] Raven’s Eye. “Free buses proposed for Highway of Tears.” 2006. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.ammsa.com/publications/ravens-eye/free-buses-proposed-highway-tears
[10]The Vancouver Sun. “Highway of Tears cries out for public shuttle bus.” April 23, 2014. Accessed December 15, 2014. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Highway+Tears+cries+public+shuttle/9768725/story.html