Last week鈥檚 announcement of the expansion of the B.C. missing women inquiry didn鈥檛 resonate with one of the victims鈥� most outspoken advocates.

The commission, headed by Wally Oppal, was originally intended to conduct a formal hearing into the police handling of the disappearances and murders of the women plucked from Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown East side by serial killer Robert Pickton. That hearing will unfold much like a criminal trial, and could result in findings of wrongdoing.

Oppal, however, asked that his mandate be expanded to include a more informal study portion that would visit this region to hear from those connected to the 18 women who have gone missing along the so-called Highway of Tears, and possibly make policy recommendations based on those submissions.

But Gladys Radek, whose niece, Tamara Chipman, is one of the Highway of Tears victims, said a study is simply not enough.

She said a formal inquiry is justified for the Highway of Tears just as it is for the Downtown East side in order to examine the police investigations conducted here in the north.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen any resolve or cases solved since Tamara鈥檚 gone missing. I haven鈥檛 seen any answers. And that鈥檚 since 2005, and there hasn鈥檛 been any movement on any of those 18 victims,鈥� said Radek.

鈥淭he underlying message here is: maybe we鈥檙e dealing with another serial killer. But in that respect, I think that until you can prove to me there鈥檚 only one man that killed all those women up there, there is (actually) 18 killers out there.鈥�

Radek is one of the founders of Walk4Justice, an advocacy group dedicated to raising the profile of missing women cases across Canada. She said her group hired a lawyer to speak on its behalf at the Oppal inquiry in Vancouver, but is worried now that doing so will effectively muzzle the group in public.

Inquiry spokesman Chris Freidmond said the study portion has seven days tentatively scheduled for northern B.C. in the middle of June .

鈥淚t will be places like Prince Rupert, Vanderhoof, Terrace, Smithers, those types of communities,鈥� said Freidmond.