2 more groups pull out of missing women's inquiry

Half a dozen groups now say they won't be taking part in the missing women's inquiry over the lack of funding for lawyers.

The End Violence Association and Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, or LEAF, announced their withdrawal on Tuesday, joining three First Nations groups and a sex-workers associationwho pulled out of the inquiry in July.

Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal granted 13 groups standing and recommended they get legal funding, but the provincial government refused, saying it would only pay the legal bills for the families of Robert Pickton's victims.

The inquiry is looking into the actions of the Crown, RCMP and Vancouver Police during the time the serial killer spent abducting and murdering women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Tracy Porteous of the End Violence Association says the lack of funding shuts out front-line women's groups, and they won't take part in an inquiry that doesn't listen to the voices of those closest to missing and murdered women.

LEAF's Kasari Govender says the government's failure to provide resources up front doesn't bode well for its commitments to implement the final recommendations of the commission.