Indigenous groups calling for federal government to help search Manitoba landfill

WARNING: The details in this article may be disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised.

Several Indigenous organizations are criticizing Winnipeg police for not searching a landfill where the remains of two women killed by an alleged serial killer are believed to be, and are asking for help from Ottawa.

“In lieu of this inaction by the Winnipeg Police Service, we are forced to advocate for loved ones now that trust has been broken by this decision not to search,” a letter, signed by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Southern Chiefs’ Organization, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, the Assembly of First Nations in Manitoba, and Long Plain First Nation reads.

The letter to federal ministers Marc Miller, Patty Hajdu and Marco Mendicino is requesting federal help for a search of Prairie Green landfill, one week after Winnipeg police have said a search is not feasible.

On Monday, Markus Chambers, the chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, said the Indigenous community needs to advocate for the landfill search.

“There was consultation that was done to determine the feasibility of a search,” he said. “We know that the Indigenous community is not satisfied with that. So, it's up to them now to reach out to the levels of government, as that invitation has been provided so that it can be determined what those next steps are.”

A spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said Monday any request for operational assistance from RCMP would need to come from the Winnipeg Police Service.

The letter is calling on Ottawa to invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People to oversee the search, provide resources for a feasibility study, and provide necessary funding for support and resources to the impacted families.

The letter also wants Ottawa to agree to call in the RCMP if Winnipeg police refuse to do the search, and provide funding to cover the cost associated with the search and recovery.

Police believe the bodies of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, were placed in the Prairie Green Landfill in the spring. Operations have been paused at the landfill until the next steps are decided.

Jeremy Skibicki is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois, and a fourth unidentified woman referred to as Buffalo Woman. The charges have not been proven in court.

Police said they believe the four women were killed in the spring, although investigators have so far only located the remains of Contois in a garbage bin in the city and in the Brady Landfill.

Police said a search of Prairie Green landfill is not feasible due to the passage of time, the amount of refuse dumped in the area, and the fact that trash at the landfill is compacted with heavy clay.

-with files from The Canadian Press

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There is a support line available for those impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+ people: 1-844-413-6649.

Additional mental-health and community-based emotional support and cultural services are also available through the federal government.