Advocacy groups denied funding for missing women inquiry

B.C.'s Attorney General Barry Penner is defending a decision to deny legal funding to advocacy groups that want to take part inthe missing women inquiry.

Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal recommended funding for 13 groups,including a sex worker coalition and several aboriginal organizations, but the government says it will only pay the legal bills of the victims of Robert Pickton.

Tracy Porteous of the Ending Violence Association of B.C. calls it a disastrous decision, but Penner says these are challenging economic times and there are limits to taxpayer funding to lawyers for advocacy groups.

Porteous' group and several others that were denied funding plan to hold a news conference on Wednesday to pressure the province to reverse course.

The public inquiry will look at the investigations into the cases of women reported missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The remains of many of those women were recovered from the farm of serial killer Robert Pickton, who was convicted of killing six women, while another 20 murder charges were stayed. The commission report is due to be submitted to the province by Dec. 31.