Meeting with premier on landfill search for women's remains felt like 'slap in the face,' say families
CBC
The families of two First Nations women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg-area landfill say they're disheartened by the Manitoba government's decision not to help pay for a search that could bring their loved ones home.
"I am absolutely baffled at how things went down and how little to no respect was shown," Cambria Harris said Thursday.
Police believe the remains of her mother, 39-year-old Morgan Harris, were taken to the privately run Prairie Green landfill north of the city in May 2022, along with the remains of 26-year-old Marcedes Myran. Both women are believed to have been among the victims of an alleged serial killer.
Cambria Harris and Melissa Robinson, Morgan's cousin, said at points, discussions during a Wednesday meeting to discuss the search with Premier Heather Stefanson and other provincial and First Nations leaders felt like "a slap in the face."
That included the province's assertion that while it would not help fund a search for the women's remains, it would support a memorial and offer the families support in their healing process.
"I ended up getting up and walking out," Robinson said Thursday. "I was upset yesterday — today, I'm angry."
Donna Bartlett, Myran's grandmother, said she was hurt to hear that the premier told her family members the Manitoba government wouldn't help them search.
"If it was her daughter or her granddaughter, I'm pretty sure she would be out there right away looking," said Bartlett, who said she raised her granddaughter for part of her life. "There would be no questions asked."
Robinson said she still has faith the federal government will come through to help fund a search, but Bartlett fears Ottawa will now follow the Manitoba government's lead.
A spokesperson for federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said the minister will have more comments on the study after he is done reviewing it. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says it has asked for a response by the end of July.
Earlier Thursday, Premier Stefanson reiterated that her government's decision not to help pay for the search was based strictly on safety concerns for those who would be sifting through the materials.
"This is not about funding…. This is about the safety of those individuals who would be conducting the search," Stefanson told reporters in a scrum following an unrelated morning news conference in downtown Winnipeg.
"The landfill is full of toxic waste and, you know, that is identified in the report."
The feasibility report Stefanson referred to was completed in May, and looked at the logistics of searching the landfill for Harris and Myran's remains.