'All these women matter': human rights complaint filed against city over refusal to search landfills

Family members of three slain Indigenous women have filed a human rights complaint over the city’s refusal to search Brady Road and Prairie Green Landfills, saying not enough was done to bring home their remains.

It’s been more than a decade since Tanya Nepinak was last seen alive. Her remains are believed to be somewhere in the Brady Landfill, but have never been found.

“We need justice,” Nepinak’s aunt Sue Caribou told CTV News.

In 2012, Winnipeg Police charged Shawn Lamb in Nepinak’s death, but those charges were later stayed. Lamb pleaded guilty in the deaths of two other women, but denied killing Nepinak. The charges in her case were stayed.

Caribou said police spent les than a week searching the landfill for her niece’s remains.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t think they take any of the missing and murdered seriously,” she said.

Caribou has filed a human rights complaint against the City of Winnipeg, along with Elle Harris, the daughter of Morgan Harris, one of the victims of convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

Family advocate Robyn Johnston was also among the complainants, representing Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman).

“All these women matter. They’re somebody’s loved one,” Caribou said.

While a search of the Prairie Green Landfill is now underway, headed by the province, it comes more than two years after Winnipeg police announced they would not do a search.

The complaint alleges the city discriminated against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people by refusing to search.

“Their failure to initiate a search sends a clear message to families and survivors that the City of Winnipeg is indifferent to such violence,” the complaint reads.

It points to a motion brought to city council in October 2023, to formally request the federal and provincial governments fund and search the Prairie Green Landfill.

Mayor Scott Gillingham voted against the motion, saying at the time that decision rested with the federal and provincial governments.

“I'm not in the habit as mayor of telling other levels of government what to do within their own jurisdiction,” Gillingham told reporters Thursday when asked about the complaint. “Now, I did call on, repeatedly, called on the federal and provincial governments to meet with the families.”

A spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg said the city is aware of the complaint but did not have any comment.

Caribou hopes this complaint will make a difference.

“I pray for justice for all our loved ones and for all the human remains that are at the landfill to be brought home,” she said.