VANCOUVER - The RCMP is attempting to downplay a controversial internal report that praised the force's investigation into Robert Pickton and concluded officers made no major errors.
In 2002, Supt. Bob Williams, then an inspector from Alberta, authored a 28-page document as the Mounties prepared to defend themselves in a civil lawsuit.
Williams told a public inquiry he would have done some things differently if he were involved, but cautioned that the officers on the ground shouldn't be faulted for failing to catch Pickton as he murdered sex workers.
Federal government lawyer Jan Brongers, who is representing the RCMP at the inquiry, has raised objections during Williams' cross-examination, suggesting his conclusions shouldn't be given much weight.
Brongers says Williams' report was aimed at government lawyers, and was never intended to be released to the public or presented at a public inquiry.
He notes Williams spent less than two weeks conducting interviews in Vancouver so the report is based on only limited knowledge of the inner workings of the RCMP investigation of Pickton in B.C.
