Landfill search cost in new report significantly less than previous estimate, AMC says

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This article was published 25/01/2024 (643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous leaders say a landfill search for the remains of two First Nations women believed to have been victims of a serial killer could begin in as little as six months, and will not cost nearly as much as has been previously stated.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said a second report, commissioned by the AMC with input from technical experts, shows the cost to search the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran would not cost close to the $184-million figure estimated in a prior feasibility study.

Merrick urged officials to act fast based on the new figures in the more than 100-page report, though the exact details were not released publicly Thursday afternoon.

“There is no room for compromise here… we won’t accept anything less.”–Cathy Merrick

“We expect that the findings in this report will expedite the funding required to begin the search and recovery operation,” she said at a news conference. “No more delays.”

Figures related to the search previously released — which estimated the search could take up to three years — were high and based only on how much landfill waste could be transported per day, said Sean Sparling of ISN (Investigative Solutions Network) Maskwa, the company that will manage the search if and when it begins.

“The truth is, is that it’ll take approximately six months or so to staff the search, build the facility and get started. And the fact is that we can be completed quite quickly,” he said. “So the accuracy of those (previous) statements is questionable.”

The second report, sent to all three levels of government Thursday morning, contains seven sub-reports covering topics such as land acquisition, risk mitigation, excavation, equipment needed and staffing, Sparling said.

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Before the search can begin, land must be acquired, a facility must be built and equipment must be paid for up front. The facility needed for the operation will take between 30 and 40 staff.

The new report has been sent to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Premier Wab Kinew and Mayor Scott Gillingham, Merrick said.

The first feasibility study released by an Indigenous-led committee in May offered no guarantee remains will be found.

The 55-page document recommended excavating and moving landfill material to a conveyor belt, where it would be searched by trained staff.

The study noted there are “considerable risks,” including exposure to toxic chemicals and asbestos.

Merrick called on the federal and provincial governments to commit to funding and a timeline after reviewing the latest report. She also asked the AMC be involved in all meetings pertaining to the search going forward.

“There is no room for compromise here… we won’t accept anything less,” she said.

Merrick said she wants to see any federal money flowing to the search funnelled through the AMC.

The day after the Oct. 3 provincial election, the federal Liberals sent $740,000 to Long Plain First Nation, where Harris and Myran were from, to further explore staff, training and equipment requirements. Ottawa, which supports a search, previously contributed $500,000 for the feasibility study.

Winnipeg police believe the remains of Harris, 39, and Myran, 26, were deposited at the landfill, located north of the city in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, in May 2022.

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Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified victim since named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) by Indigenous leaders, are also believed to have been killed by the same person.

Jeremy Skibicki, 36, pleaded not guilty in November to four counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings. His trial, expected to take six weeks, is scheduled to begin in April.

Some of Contois’s remains were found in a garbage bin in the North Kildonan neighbourhood in May 2022, and more were recovered at the city-run Brady Road landfill the following month.

Police have not determined definitively where Buffalo Woman’s body is located.

“This is our women. There’s no reason for them to be in that landfill. Why can’t you go and look right away?”–Donna Bartlett

When the first feasibility report was released, then-premier Heather Stefanson ruled out a search of the landfill, saying the Progressive Conservative government would not put workers at risk when there was no guarantee of success.

In December, Kinew said he wants the search at Prairie Green to start as soon as possible, noting it can be carried out during winter months.

In an emailed statement Thursday, Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the province is reviewing AMC’s proposal: “Our government has been clear about our commitment to search the landfill… The next step will be to work with the families on a strong path forward that delivers on our commitment.”

Donna Bartlett, Myran’s grandmother, called the year-long wait “inhumane” and criticized the province for not acting sooner.

“This is our women. There’s no reason for them to be in that landfill. Why can’t you go and look right away?” she said.

“If we were white, they would be looking.”

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole 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.