The Highway of Tears Disappearances

Community leaders along Highway 16, also known as the Highway of Tears, are meeting this week to discuss ways to improve safety here. Since the 1970s, eighteen women have been murdered or have disappeared along this highway and its adjacent routes.

There are up to 100 people expected in Smithers to review transportation options for this 750-kilometre highway corridor. The Transportation Minister, Todd Stone, isn't attending, saying he's leaving the discussion to local officials. He describes this Tuesday meeting as information gathering and non-political. Jennifer Rice, the North Coast New Democrat MLA for the Prince Rupert area, wasn't invited to the meeting, though she wanted to go. She thinks that chief administrative officers from communities are invited because they are "practical people" who implement practical things.

Representatives from 23 First Nations along the corridor, municipal governments, and the B.C. government are all attending this day-long meeting. The government says the gathering will review previous community transportation reports, including a 2006 report that suggested bus service between communities and the 2012 Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, which recommended better transportation in this area.

Bill Miller, a regional politician and elected member of the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District, mentioned that many people agree this highway is too geographically challenging for a region-wide bus service. However, there's concern about the government stalling. He feels like they've been "put on a treadmill" and that there are cost-effective and efficient solutions. He believes a more workable system would connect places like Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, and Fraser Lake, which would help with safety for those who travel this route. He highlighted the vulnerability of women in general, and First Nations women specifically. Local governments need the province to help them get a locally driven transportation system. They're sending people to the symposium in Smithers, hoping to make them understand the significance of this issue.

Stone agrees with some locals that a shuttle-bus service along the entire route isn't practical. However, the NDP says recently released documents contradict Stone and show that local officials think a bus service should be considered. Rice feels that this is past due and it’s time for action. Among more than 600 pages of recently released government documents are estimates for bus service, which put the cost of a six-day-a-week Prince Rupert to Prince George bus at less than $1 million annually. Finance Minister Mike de Jong stated last week that he expects to deliver a quarterly financial update with improved financial forecasts, which has led to speculation that the government might have money for targeted initiatives. Stone recently acknowledged that the highway issue could be part of a federal Liberal government inquiry into Canada's murdered and missing women. An RCMP report from last year said nearly 1,200 aboriginal women were murdered or went missing between 1980 and 2012.