By Canadian Press

Search of Manitoba landfill for remains of slain First Nations women on track: Kinew

Oct 23, 2024 | 3:29 PM

WINNIPEG — The effort to find the remains of two slain First Nations women in a landfill is on track and excavation in the target area is set to start in early December, Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday.

“I hope that everybody in the province and across the country sees that Manitoba values and honours Indigenous women,” Kinew told reporters as he stood at the Prairie Green Landfill, where preliminary excavation has started and a building for searchers is under construction.

A power line for the building has been installed, road access has been built, and excavation of a four-metre-deep top layer of material — above the target area — is underway, a provincial government official said. Hiring interviews for searchers are in progress.

Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were sent to the privately run landfill north of Winnipeg in May 2022. Jeremy Skibicki admitted to killing Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women and putting their remains in garbage bins.

The remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a different landfill. Those of an unidentified woman whom Indigenous grassroots community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, have not been located.

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Skibicki was sentenced in August to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Kinew was joined Wednesday by some of the victims’ relatives.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a lot of work that needs to get done, but for our families, we’re finally seeing that light at the end of the tunnel,” Cambria Harris, one of Morgan Harris’s daughters, said.

Police and the former Progressive Conservative government rejected calls to search the Prairie Green landfill, partly because of asbestos and toxic material and the fact that there is no guarantee the remains would be found.

The Tories took out election campaign ads that promoted their decision to “stand firm” against the search.

The NDP government, elected last year, has committed $20 million to the search, matching a federal contribution.

“I hope we can bring your loved ones home,” Kinew told the families.

“But the most important thing is we’re going to try.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 23, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press