First Nation members send silent message in support of landfill search during Manitoba PC leader's visit
CBC
A year and a half on, there's still no sign of Ashlee Shingoose.
The pain of that uncertainty was written on the face of her father, Albert Shingoose, when Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson leaned in to shake his hand during a campaign visit last week in St. Theresa Point First Nation.
"I am very, very … down, feeling low, feeling lost without my daughter," who was last seen in March 2022 in downtown Winnipeg, said Albert.
He had a message for Stefanson when she visited the northeastern Manitoba First Nation.
"Search the landfill, search the landfill! I said that loud and clear for her," he told CBC News.
Those calls were also on display at St. Theresa First Nation School, where hundreds of students took part in a silent statement by wearing red or holding up red signs.
Those calls have been repeated in the weeks since Stefanson's PC government, which is now seeking a third consecutive term, refused to support a search of the Prairie Green landfill.
Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — two First Nations women suspected to have been victims of an alleged serial killer — are in the landfill, north of Winnipeg.
Stefanson has cited potential risks to workers in denying to support a search.
Roy Mason, the school's vice-principal, says he didn't necessarily want to make the search into a political issue during the PC leader's visit, but acknowledges there was a collective desire to send a message.
"When we learned [Stefanson] was going to visit, we wanted to show support to have the landfill searched," he said. "[It] gave us an opportunity to participate."
Tanya Dawn McDougall, who works as a mental health advocate at the school, let Mason and other school administrators know of plans for a silent statement — not a protest or rally — to be made in a respectful way.
Mason was supportive of the move and the school encouraged families to wear red to school that day.
"Quite honestly, I didn't want a politician coming into my community thinking that we're totally oblivious to her stance on the issue," said McDougall.
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