City of Winnipeg files court injunction to stop landfill protest

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This article was published 11/07/2023 (822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg filed a notice of application for a court injunction Tuesday to halt a protest group’s nearly week-long blockade of the main road leading to the Brady Road landfill.

A court spokesperson confirmed the injunction motion is set to go before a judge Wednesday, but could be adjourned depending on how much time is needed to hear it.

Protesters told the Free Press they will remain peaceful but they are prepared to be forcefully removed, if an injunction is granted and police arrive to enforce it.

“We’re not leaving until moves are made to work with the families and search the landfills,” said Melissa Morrisseau. “Until something starts happening, my friends, we’re at a stalemate. They’re going to have to drag me out of here.”

Protesters and Mayor Scott Gillingham said they want to reach a peaceful resolution through discussions.

The Winnipeg Police Service has said it is monitoring the situation and engaging with both sides to reach the same conclusion.

Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women blocked the road to the city-run site on July 6, while demanding governments support searches of Winnipeg-area landfills for human remains.

The action was spurred by the province’s refusal to support a search of the privately owned Prairie Green Landfill, just north of Winnipeg, for the remains of Indigenous women Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

Premier Heather Stefanson cited health and safety concerns for searchers.

The Harris and Myran families and an Indigenous-led committee, which determined a search is feasible following a study, are awaiting the federal government’s decision to fund the search.

The feasibility study found a search could take up to three years and cost up to $184 million, with no guarantee remains will be found.

Gillingham has said the city doesn’t have the resources to pay for a search.

“We’re not leaving until moves are made to work with the families and search the landfills.”–Melissa Morrisseau

The city decided to pursue an injunction after protesters ignored Winnipeg chief administrative officer Michael Jack’s order to vacate, which set a deadline of 12 p.m. Monday.

The city has said protesters are violating city bylaws and provincial laws.

A notice of application filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench seeks an injunction to prevent the occupation of roads leading to the landfill and interference with its operations.

Operations include “extensive environmental health and safety activities,” including capturing and disposing of toxic waste, Michael Gordichuk, the city’s manager of solid waste services, said in an affidavit filed Monday.

If the city is unable to access and operate the landfill, there would be a risk of combustion of waste material and a build-up of toxic gases and liquids, he said.

Waste would have to be diverted to smaller landfills that will be unable to sustain the increased volume over an extended period of time, Gordichuk said.

“Despite the city’s attempts to clear the blockade… I believe that the respondents will not leave the roadway unless the court intervenes and grants an injunction and permitting the Winnipeg Police Service to enforce the injunction,” Gordichuk said.

Gillingham and Coun. Brian Mayes, chair of the city’s water, waste and environment committee, supported the decision to seek legal action.

“We have to keep the garbage trucks moving in the city of Winnipeg,” he told reporters at city hall. “I think it’s important that we don’t run into the situation where we could have garbage interrupted. I think it’s really important that we continue to make sure those operations are ongoing.”

The landfill and 4R depot were open Tuesday, despite the blockade. Garbage trucks and other vehicles used a temporary detour.

Marc Kruse, director of Indigenous legal learning and services in the University of Manitoba’s faculty of law, said injunctions are usually pursued by provincial or municipal governments when there is a blockade.

Kruse said hearings happen quickly without a lot of evidence being presented.

“There isn’t really a chance for (protesters) to respond,” he said.

Police have discretion on how to enforce an injunction, whether it is through discussions or use of force, said Kruse.

“Unfortunately, across Canada, we tend to see more of the militarized approach (against Indigenous protesters),” he said.

Brandon Trask, an assistant professor in the U of M’s faculty of law, said if people are charged with breaching an injunction, the Crown will need to carefully consider whether it’s in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution.

“These are very tricky cases, very challenging circumstances,” said Trask.

“These are very tricky cases, very challenging circumstances.”–Brandon Trask

He said there must be recognition that some civil disobedience by advocates needs to be tolerated or may be essential to the functioning of democracy.

The WPS believes four Indigenous women — Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified victim temporarily named Buffalo Woman — were slain by an alleged serial killer in 2022.

Police believe Harris and Myran’s remains were deposited at Prairie Green shortly after they were killed.

The WPS decided not to search the landfill due, in part, to the volume of waste dumped over a month-long period before officers learned the women’s remains were probably there.

Partial remains belonging to Contois were found when police searched the Brady Road landfill in June 2022.

Police learned Contois’s remains were at the site shortly after they were deposited.

Jeremy Skibicki, 36, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. He is scheduled to go on trial in April.

A camp has been set up outside the Brady Road landfill, located on the city’s southern limits, since December, when police announced the deaths of Harris, Myran and Buffalo Woman, whose remains are missing.

Discussions helped to resolve an earlier blockade.

Between Dec. 13, 2022 and Jan. 6, 2023, blockade activities cost the city approximately $1.5 million in lost tipping fees and expenses, Gordichuk said in the affidavit.

Since Jan. 1, the city has spent approximately $125,000 on security and traffic-related expenses.

city.desk@freepress.mb.ca

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