On Monday morning Commissioner Oppal announced that the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry hearings would be adjourned until April 2, 2012 to enable Commission Counsel to find a lawyer to replace Robyn Gervais, who recently quit as “Independent Commission Counsel” for Aboriginal interests.  The announcement took us completely by surprise, as we had been preparing through the weekend to question a panel of four Vancouver Police Department major crime investigators that was scheduled to appear this week.  Despite our protestations, the Commission does not consult with us or notify us in respect of significant procedural developments like this.

In our view, there is now no possibility that the Commission can complete its mandate by its self-imposed deadline of April 30, 2012.  There are simply too many witnesses yet to be heard from.