Indigenous leaders, families to meet with Kinew about landfill search

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/10/2023 (715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous leaders and the families of two women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg-area landfill are due to meet with Premier Wab Kinew Thursday to discuss a potential search.

Kinew said Wednesday his government will follow through on a pre-election commitment to search the privately owned Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

“This will be a challenging task, that will require us all to work together, and that work has to start with the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran,” the premier said in a statement. “We know the previous government’s approach caused deep harm to these families and to the people of our province. Our government is committed to a new era of reconciliation and unity for all Manitobans.

“The first step is to meet with the families as premier, and I look forward to resetting the relationship between their families and the government of Manitoba based on a foundation of respect.”

Harris, 39, and Myran, 26, are among four Indigenous women who Winnipeg police believe were slain by an alleged serial killer last year.

Police believe their remains were deposited at Prairie Green, located just north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, after they were killed in May 2022.

Harris’ daughter, Cambria Harris, told the Free Press Tuesday that members of her family will attend the meeting at the legislature.

Relatives of Myran, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick and Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson are also expected to attend.

Cambria Harris said the premier reached out to the families and invited them to the meeting.

She doesn’t know if Kinew will reveal more about how his government will support a search, alongside the federal government, but she is hopeful.

“We had to fight to get into the Legislative Building before,” she said, referring to the former Progressive Conservative government, which refused to support a search.

In July, then-premier Heather Stefanson told the Harris and Myran families the province would not put workers at risk when there was no guarantee the women’s remains would be found.

A feasibility study by an Indigenous-led committee found a search could take one to three years and cost between $84 million and $184 million.

The study said risks or hazards, such as toxic chemicals, asbestos or cave-ins, could be mitigated with proper planning, training, equipment and methods for excavating and searching material. Experts who were consulted said there was a good chance of success.

A day after the Oct. 3 provincial election, the federal Liberals provided $740,000 to Long Plain, where Harris and Myran were from, to further explore what would be necessary when it comes to staff, training and equipment. Ottawa, which supports a search, previously contributed $500,000 for the feasibility study.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Kinew discussed a potential search during a recent meeting in Winnipeg, said Joanna Sivasankaran, a spokeswoman for Anandasangaree.

She said the department is “carefully considering” the committee’s request for funding to conduct a search feasibility study for the city-run Brady Road landfill.

Jeremy Skibicki, 36, is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, 39, Myran, 26, Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified victim, who was named Buffalo Woman by Indigenous elders.

Skibicki is scheduled for trial in April. A number of pre-trial motions will be heard by a judge in November.

Some of Contois’ remains were found in a garbage bin in North Kildonan in May 2022. A section of the Brady Road landfill was sealed off a short time after the discovery. Police recovered additional remains during a search at the landfill the following month.

The Winnipeg Police Service decided not to search Prairie Green for the remains of Harris and Myran due, in part, to the large volume of waste that was deposited and compacted over a 34-day period before officers learned the women were likely there.

An internal assessment determined a search by the WPS would not be feasible, police have said.

Buffalo Woman’s remains have not been recovered. Police have said they do not have a definitive location.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca