Jorden Myran, centre, sister of Marcedes Myran, is joined by Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, right, and Bridget Tolley, left, founder of Families of Sisters in Spirit at the International Day of Action to Search the Landfills on Parliament Hill, on Sept. 18.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Family and supporters of two First Nations women believed to be buried in a Winnipeg-area landfill are celebrating the election victory of Wab Kinews’s NDP and his pledge to search the site, which the incumbent government had rejected for being too costly and dangerous.
Tuesday’s result for premier-designate Mr. Kinew and his New Democrats – which will form a majority government – also prompted Ottawa to announce $740,000 in funding for the Long Plain First Nation, where the women were from, for work that will help determine the scope of the search at Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg.
The families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran have been calling for the search since December of last year, when Winnipeg police announced that they believe the two women were victims of a serial killer and that their remains are buried in the landfill.
An Indigenous-led feasibility study was commissioned by the federal government, and concluded earlier this year that a search, while costly and complex, would be possible, and that the risks, which include toxic chemicals and asbestos, could be mitigated.
But Manitoba’s current Premier, Heather Stefanson, had refused to support a search. The Progressive Conservative Party bought newspaper ads and billboards during the campaign that touted her pledge to “stand firm against the unsafe $184-million landfill dig.”
Ms. Stefanson’s refusal drew ire from Indigenous leaders as well as the federal government, which said that without the province’s co-operation, their hands were tied.
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In a statement, federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Ottawa’s funding announced Wednesday will allow the Long Plain First Nation to work with experts, the landfill’s owners and operators, and political leaders “to examine, in detail the proposed activities … that are necessary to launch and conduct any potential search.”
Though questions remain about the timeline of a search, and what the province’s financial commitment will be, Ms. Harris’s family is optimistic that the process is headed in the right direction – and said they will continue to push for action.
“This is just the beginning,” her cousin, Melissa Robinson, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We’re going to have to be even stronger now.”
The families of Ms. Harris, 39, and Ms. Myran, 26, spent the spring and summer of 2022 looking for the missing women, before police revealed last December that they believed they’d been killed by alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki the prior June.
Mr. Skibicki is also charged with the murder of Rebecca Contois, 24, whose partial remains were found at a different landfill in May, 2022, as well as a fourth woman, who has not been identified or located. She is also believed to be Indigenous, and elders have named her Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe or Buffalo Woman.
The revelation that police had left the women’s remains in the dump – as their families continued their desperate searches – sparked outrage from the community and from Indigenous leaders.
After Tuesday’s election, Long Plain Chief Kyra Wilson said there is much work to be done and logistics to hash out, but that she is excited and hopeful.
“We don’t know entirely yet what solutions are going to be brought forward from our new Premier and the party,” Ms. Wilson said. “But they did state that they are committed to working together to find a solution, and, to me, that is a positive commitment – because at least you’re willing to come to the table and have a discussion about what those next steps could be.”
On Wednesday, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said that after a “lack of willingness” from Ms. Stefanson’s government to support a search, they are trusting Mr. Kinew to carry out this work.
Ms. Merrick said the premier-designate and the announcement from the federal government have “taken a weight off the shoulders of all of us, because we carried that whole weight from all the negativity during this election,” and that “we’re going to ensure that that work is done.”