Sympathetic Goertzen stands by decision on landfill search

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This article was published 20/07/2023 (828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s justice minister stood firm Thursday on his government’s decision not to support a proposed search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women thought to be victims of an alleged serial killer.

“I get asked this question: ‘Well, what if it was your family?’ I’ve said and I’ll repeat it again: families should advocate for families. If it were my son, I would advocate for my son,” Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said, while offering the grieving families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran his sympathy.

“The provincial government has to consider all families, and has to consider what the risk is for the families and those who might be doing a search on an industrial landfill site.”

The Steinbach Tory MLA, speaking to reporters at an unrelated event in Winnipeg, said he also is concerned about the impact such a search at the privately-owned Prairie Green Landfill, just north of the city, in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, could have on the prosecution of the accused.

Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the slayings of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois, and a fourth Indigenous woman (the yet-to-be-identified Buffalo Woman).

Skibicki is scheduled to stand trial in April.

Winnipeg police believe the bodies of Harris and Myran were inadvertently transported to Prairie Green by waste trucks as the landfill continued regular operations, burying them under tonnes of industrial waste.

Earlier this month, Premier Heather Stefanson said the Manitoba government would not support a proposed search, citing a federally funded study that said such a probe poses health risks for workers, could take three years and cost up to $184 million.

The families of Harris and Myran, along with supporters and First Nations advocates, launched protests, temporarily blockading access to the city-owned Brady Road landfill.

Goertzen said he feels for those advocating for the search, but the government needed to factor in safety and justice considerations when making its “difficult decision.”

“I’m entirely sympathetic to those families who are affected, because every family would advocate for their family and every family should advocate for their family. But provincial government’s responsibility is broader than that and, as the attorney general, from a justice perspective, my thought process has to include that as well,” he said.

On Thursday, Cambria Harris (daughter of Morgan Harris) met with Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, along with Indigenous leaders and family members.

She said the discussion with the mayor was positive, with Gillingham offering to find ways to help, including possibly providing a piece of a land for excavated waste to be searched through, though he made no hard commitments.

“He expressed that he wishes it wasn’t such a political yo-yo between governments right now, and the city can only do so much,” Harris told reporters outside city hall.

“That’s what I’m hearing from all levels of government is that no one knows where to point the finger at.”

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Goertzen’s comments Thursday won’t stop her and others advocating for a search, Harris said. “We want those women home and they deserve to come home with the proper ceremonial burial.”

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, who was at the meeting with the mayor, said Gillingham’s openness and support contrasted with the response of the province.

“That’s what we’re looking for in terms of the governments, so I appreciate that, where the other government, the provincial government, is shutting us out,” Merrick said.

“We are talking to the federal government, as well. So it’s the provincial government that really has to come to the table and be ready to approve what needs to be done.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.