'We're not trash' Manitoba Indigenous leaders renew calls for landfill search after study proves feasibility
CTV
Manitoba's Indigenous leaders are calling on Winnipeg police and all three levels of government to move forward with a comprehensive search of the Prairie Green landfill to find the bodies of two Indigenous women believed to be deposited there.
Manitoba's Indigenous leaders are calling on Winnipeg police and all three levels of government to move forward with a comprehensive search of the Prairie Green landfill to find the bodies of two Indigenous women believed to be deposited there.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) held a media conference Friday in partnership with Long Plain First Nation and the families of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, and Marcedes Myran.
All three women are believed to be the victims of alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. Contois' remains were found in the Brady Road landfill last year. The remains of Harris and Myran have not yet been found, but police have said their bodies may have been deposited in West St. Paul's Prairie Green landfill in May 2022.
Skibicki has also been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a fourth, unidentified woman known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. Her remains have also not been found.
In December 2022, the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) said a search of the landfill was not feasible due to the passage of time and the large amount of material deposited there, including animal remains which would be difficult to distinguish from human remains. In response to that claim, an Indigenous-led committee spearheaded by the AMC commissioned a feasibility study to determine the actual work needed to search the site.
"The First Nations community would not stand for those explanations. We knew that position was sending a dark message to First Nation women and girls," said Cathy Merrick, AMC Grand Chief.
"How do you look at these young girls and say 'I'm sorry,' that you won't even attempt to recover their mothers?" she added.
