RCMP warned budget cuts would hamper Highway of Tears probe – Times Colonist
February 4, 2015
VANCOUVER – The RCMP’s highest ranking member in British Columbia warned the provincial government last year that cutting the force’s budget would hamper its ability to investigate missing and murdered women along the so-called Highway of Tears.
The Mounties launched their E-PANA task force in 2006 to determine whether a serial killer was operating along the Highway 16 corridor in the province’s north. It was eventually assigned 18 cases involving women or girls who vanished or were found dead in the region.
The RCMP and the B.C. government confirmed last year that six officers were cut from the E-PANA investigation, which had already seen previous budget reductions.
In the spring, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens — the commanding officer for the province — sent a memo to the province’s director of police services outlining the potential impact of the cuts.
