The B.C. Transportation Ministry is "planning targeted consultations to identify and promote safe transportation options" along Highway 16, according to an update released this week on steps the provincial government is taking in answer to the Missing Women Inquiry.
In his final report, issued in December 2012, inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal had called on the provincial government to "immediately commit" to establishing a public transit system along the highway, known as the Highway of Tears.
Reached Thursday, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council chair Terry Teegee said he hopes First Nations along the highway will be among those consulted and involved in the subsequent implementation if a plan is developed.
"It will be interesting to see if there is real involvement for those people who don't have safe transportation, the people who don't have vehicles," Teegee said. "Are they going to consult those people? And more often than not, those are First Nations people."
Details on how those consultations will be carried out and who will be consulted were not included in the 13-page update, released Monday.
"We've been a part of this whole discussion and we've been advocating for safe transportation within our communities and it's been within our traditional territories," Teegee said, and added Carrier Sekani Family Services should also be involved.
He also said the situation has worsened since Greyhound was given permission in January to reduce the number of weekly trips between Prince George and Prince Rupert from 22 to 14.
In his report, Oppal also said the provincial government should "support and implement" the 2006 Highway of Tears Symposium report, which calls for a shuttle bus system to "pick up and drop off young female passengers at all First Nation communities, towns and cities located along the entire length of the highway between Prince George and Prince Rupert."
Seven shuttle buses would be required along the 724-kilometre stretch, according to the symposium.
The Highway of Tears has been coined for Highway 16 West, although the number of missing and murdered woman associated with the term covers a larger area.
The RCMP's Project E-Pana, is investigating 18 cases of women determined to have gone missing or been murdered within a mile of Highways 16, 97 and 5, between Valemount and Merritt since 1969. In 2009, The Vancouver Sun expanded the criteria beyond the one-mile limit to come up with 31 cases.
