Province hires outspoken daughter of serial killer’s victim to work on Indigenous reconciliation issues

The young woman who led the charge for a landfill search to find the remains of her mother and another woman slain by a serial killer has been hired to work for the Manitoba government.

Cambria Harris, 24, officially started work Monday.

“We are excited to have Cambria join our team to help support the work within the Indigenous Reconciliation portfolio as a special assistant,” a statement from Finance Minister Adrien Sala’s spokesman Ryan Stelter said.

The Indigenous Affairs Secretariat manages policy and program issues “and provides timely, practical and effective advice on all aspects of Indigenous issues as they relate to the Manitoba government,” the government website says.

“The responsibilities of the secretariat are province-wide and relate to current or emerging issues which can be highly complex.”

Its budget this year is $10.5 million.

Harris, who wasn’t made available for an interview, said at an event in May that the public needs to continue to pressure authorities to take more action to protect Indigenous women and girls.

Her Red Dress Day keynote address at the University of Manitoba described the difficulties she faced in getting justice for her mother, Morgan Harris, 39, and three other victims of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki — Marcedes Myran, Ashlee Shingoose and Rebecca Contois.

“We need to keep holding (the government) accountable so there isn’t another Indigenous person standing in front of them asking to search the landfill,” Harris told the crowd at the time.

The self-described advocate for “creating a safe space for all diverse individuals” called out the former Progressive Conservative government for refusing to search the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg where police believed her mother and Myran were buried after Skibicki killed them in 2022.

The PCs under former premier Heather Stefanson campaigned in the 2023 election to “Stand Firm” on a refusal to search the landfill and lost.

The NDP, who promised to conduct the search and won the election, followed through on the pledge.

The search that began Dec. 2 turned up partial remains of both Indigenous women within a few months and cost an estimated $18 million.

A 2023 feasibility study estimated the effort to comb the privately owned landfill could cost up to $184 million and take up to three years.

An Oct. 17 order in council recommended by the finance minister indicated Harris’s starting salary is $81,913. The Finance Department is responsible for the Manitoba Indigenous Reconciliation Secretariat and funding the search efforts.

Skibicki, who admitted to killing the four Indigenous women but claimed he was not criminally responsible because he was suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia, was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder in July 2024.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca