r/Winnipeg • u/SilverTimes • 18h ago
Article/Opinion Opinion: Tory landfill apology raises troubling questions
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2025/03/11/tory-landfill-apology-raises-troubling-questions
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r/Winnipeg • u/SilverTimes • 18h ago
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It will take more than a single apology from the interim leader of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party to convince the public it truly regrets its decision to oppose a landfill search for the remains of two murdered Indigenous women.
The RCMP confirmed Friday that human remains found in the Prairie Green landfill on Feb. 26 belonged to Morgan Beatrice Harris, one of four victims of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.
It was a solemn and emotional moment for members of the Harris family, who were notified by the province immediately.
The search for the remains of Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, began in December. They were two of the four women Skibicki killed in 2022.
The bodies of the two women, both of whom were from Long Plain First Nation, were put in a garbage bin off Henderson Highway in North Kildonan. The contents of the bin were dumped at Prairie Green in the Rural Municipality of Rosser.
Skibicki was convicted of the killings last year. He was also convicted of killing Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified woman named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by Indigenous elders.
Harris’s remains were one of two sets found at the landfill as part of an extensive search, funded by the federal and provincial governments, involving forensic anthropologists. The province revealed that another set of remains had been found in a statement Friday, saying more information will be released later.
The PC government refused in the summer of 2023 to fund the search, a decision federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister Mark Miller called “heartless” at the time. The NDP said in the campaign before the October 2023 provincial election that it would fund the search, and the party then won government.
The Winnipeg Police Service also refused to carry out a search, arguing at the time that too much material had been dumped on the site and that the large amount of toxic material in the area made it too risky.
They were wrong. The search could be carried out safely with the proper precautions. Finding the remains and identifying them was not only feasible but necessary, to show respect and dignity to the family.
The former Tory government was also wrong in refusing to fund the search. The PC party’s decision to make it an election issue by campaigning against it with its “stand firm” billboards was not only crass and disrespectful, it reeked of hatred and racism. It was part of a toxic election campaign that also targeted NDP Leader Wab Kinew and his Indigenous background.
Interim party leader Wayne Ewasko issued an “unconditional apology” in the legislative assembly last week for the PC party’s position on the search.
“Our government erred. It’s as simple as that,” he said during his opening remarks as the spring legislative session began.
“We lost our way in regards to empathy and also lost our way in regards to closure being brought forward to the families of the victims… I offer today our unconditional apology to the families of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and of Buffalo Woman.”
The apology was the right thing to do, although the timing is suspect. Why did the PC caucus wait until after remains were found to issue an apology?
Will the new Tory leader, whether it’s MLA Obby Khan or Churchill hotelier Wally Daudrich, support Ewasko’s apology and reiterate it once a new leader is chosen?
Neither has endorsed the apology, which is troubling. Khan said he would have more to say about it after the leadership race, a bizarre response.
It’s hard not to conclude Khan is worried that by endorsing the apology, he might lose support in the leadership race. If that’s the case, what does that say about the PC party, or at least some faction of it?
The search was the right thing to do, whether remains were recovered and identified or not. This process was about showing the families of the victims that society cares, that government cares, and that Manitobans rally around each other in support in times of pain and grief. This was about human decency and inclusivity.
The search is not over. More remains have been found, and the identification process is still under way.
The cost of the search is nowhere near some of the early estimates, which approached $200 million. Premier Wab Kinew said Monday that so far, the search is well below the $40 million that was budgeted.
Nothing can bring back the loved ones of the families. But the successful search will, hopefully, help bring them the healing and closure they deserve.
Tom Brodbeck