Manitoba to help with feasibility study to possibly search landfill for slain women
WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government will join an Indigenous-led committee tasked with determining whether it is possible to recover the remains of two First Nations women believed to be in an outlying landfill from Winnipeg.
WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government will join an Indigenous-led committee tasked with determining whether it is possible to recover the remains of two First Nations women believed to be in an outlying landfill from Winnipeg.
The Manitoba Chiefs Assembly leads the group, which includes outside experts and the Winnipeg Police Department.
The committee is to produce a feasibility study that includes a search and budget plan, which will then be presented to the various levels of government.
The federal government says it will fund the study and wants a discussion about what resources are needed from different levels of government.
Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were taken to the Prairie Green landfill in the spring, but dismissed the idea of a search, citing the passage of time, the lack of a precise location inside the landfill and the tons of material Clay and animal remains deposited since then.
Premier Heather Stefanson says operations at part of the landfill have been suspended since last week and will remain so indefinitely.
The province’s role in the feasibility study has yet to be determined, but Stefanson committed to providing the necessary technical resources and expertise and helping to cover costs.
The prime minister said on Friday the province needed to keep an eye on the judicial process and also ensure a “respectful and proper assessment” of whether it was possible to recover the bodies.
“It is honorable and appropriate that the leadership of the indigenous community should take the lead in this work.”
Stefanson met with Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Friday afternoon to discuss next steps.
Earlier in the day, she spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who pledged financial support for the feasibility study and offered additional help if needed, she said.
Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found at another landfill, and a fourth unidentified woman, whom community leaders have dubbed Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
“We mourn you. You are loved. You will be missed,” Stefanson said. “I make a commitment to the families today that we will do everything in our power to protect the integrity of the judicial process so that you can find a conclusion.”
Merrick said all politicians must support and protect Indigenous women and girls.
“We are here today to start this journey, to be able to work together.”
Merrick added it shouldn’t have been for Harris’ family to travel to Ottawa to bring the issue to the national stage for the help and support they had been asking for.
The committee is scheduled to meet on Monday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on December 16, 2022.
Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
