In immediate response to Wally Oppal's missing women report, the province has appointed former Lieutenant Governor Steven Point of Chilliwack to "champion" the cause.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond appointed Point to chair a new advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women.

The move came Monday afternoon in response to the final report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (MWCI).

The report, entitled "Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry," outlines critical and systemic failures during the investigation into missing and murdered women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside between 1997 and 2002.

Among the findings in the 1,448-page report is the recommendation to establish a regional police force.

"We are the only major city in Canada without a regionalized police force," Oppal told the Vancouver Sun.

The report makes 65 recommendations in an attempt to avoid another serial killer like Robert Pickton.

Systemic issues pointed out by Oppal include poverty, racism, drug addiction and a lack of affordable housing.

In a press release issued Monday, the government announced that over the next few months it would review the report and welcome input- via Point's committee-from groups directly impacted by the recommendations including families of the missing and murdered women, the Vancouver Police Department, the RCMP and the City of Vancouver, all of whom just received the report today."

phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com