Calls for landfill search shadow Canadian premiers' meeting with national Indigenous leaders in Winnipeg

First Nations leaders in Manitoba say they are disappointed after the premier doubled down over the province's decision not to finance a landfill search for the remains of two murdered Indigenous women.

Last Wednesday, Premier Heather Stefanson said she would not fund a three-year and up to $184-million search of the Prairie Green landfill just north of Winnipeg, where the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are believed to be located.

She said long-term health and safety risks of a search cannot be ignored, but the province would not stand in the way if the federal government wants to lead a search of Prairie Green, as long as there are guarantees for worker safety.

Stefanson stood by that decision on Monday afternoon.

"I think that there's other ways where we can work together," she said during a press conference at The Leaf in Winnipeg, where Canada's premiers met with national Indigenous leaders and local Indigenous leaders from Treaty 1 Nation and the Red River Métis.

"This is a very difficult decision in Manitoba," Stefanson said.

A blockade was erected at Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill after Stefanson announced her decision, and remains in place on Monday, despite a city order for protesters to vacate by noon.

About 20 protesters from the blockade stood outside of the premiers' closed-door meeting at Assiniboine Park on Monday, carrying drums and a megaphone to draw attention.

At the press conference, Stefanson promised support for the victims' loved ones instead.

"As a mother, my heart goes out to the families that are going through this, and we will be there for those families."

'We have to try' to find remains: Manitoba NDP Leader

Cindy Woodhouse, Manitoba's regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations, said she's disappointed by Stefanson's approach and hopes she will reconsider funding a search.

"We've heard the protesters today, we've heard the cries of these families, and we need to stand with them," Woodhouse told CBC News at The Leaf.

Discussion about the search came up during the premiers' meeting with Indigenous leaders on Monday, but Stefanson "did not respond," according to Woodhouse.

"We'll continue to ask her about this issue," she said. "I hope she comes to the table in a better way with these families."

Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the province has failed families of the victims believed to be in Prairie Green.

"We have to try to find the remains of these women, and I think that Premier Stefanson has made a serious mistake in ruling out a search," he told reporters on Monday.

'National disgrace'

Kinew said the province should find some way to comb the landfill, but offered few specifics.

"There's other search methods you could look at — search animals, other approaches to investigating the landfill sites."

Ottawa provided $500,000 to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to carry out the feasibility study into a potential search, which was completed last May. The federal government has said it is still reviewing the report. 

Cambria Harris, whose mother is believed to be at Prairie Green, said there have been searches of landfills in the past. Winnipeg police searched the Brady Road landfill for the remains of Tanya Nepinak in 2012, but looked at only a small area and called off the search after seven days. Nepinak went missing in 2011 in Winnipeg.

In 2021, Toronto police found the remains of homicide victim Nathaniel Brettell after searching a landfill in Southwold, Ont., for several weeks.

Kinew said families waited seven months for answers from the province regarding a search, only to be let down, and Stefanson's refusal to fund a search of Prairie Green sends a message that the government does not care.

"They've let these families wait on the side of a road for seven months. This is a national disgrace."