The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau-led federal government has averred that it will cover the cost of a feasibility study for a potential search of a landfill near Winnipeg that is believed to contain the remains of two First Nations women police allege were killed by the same man.
Disclosing the development, Canada’s minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, Marc Miller noted that the federal government confirmed that has agreement with Cathy Merrick, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
Recall that Merrick had earlier announced the agreement herself that day, saying a local anthropologist would conduct the study along with members of the Winnipeg Police Service, members of Long Plain First Nation — which the slain women were also members of — and a member of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
According to the minister, the feasibility study on the potential search of the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg “will set the stages for the next conversations that we’ll have with the families, foremost, in the search for closure.”
“It’s a site that is full of a number of complexities and we’re glad to deploy the resources the federal government can”.
It could also be recalled that Miller had previously promised support of some kind, but stopped short of committing specifically to federal money to cover any costs of a search, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had suggested federal cash may be coming.
Harping on the development, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said operations at Prairie Green landfill were recently paused, meaning nothing new has been coming into the site.
It is imperative to note that the study will be the first step in determining what will happen at the Prairie Green landfill, which police say they believe holds the remains of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, two of the four victims of alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.
The embattled Skibicki is charged with first-degree murder in those women’s deaths and in the deaths of Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman who members of the Indigenous community have named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
Providing updates, Skibicki’s lawyer has said his client intends to plead not guilty to all four charges.
Recall that in June, Contois’s partial remains were located at the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg. Police have said they don’t know where Buffalo Woman’s remains are.
In a decision that has left families like that of Elle Harris, the daughter of Morgan Harris, unable to properly mourn their loss, even though they believe Myran and Harris’s remains are at Prairie
Speaking further on the issue, Miller said the federal government plans to work with the Winnipeg Police Service, the province of Manitoba and the mayor’s office in Winnipeg to ensure a coordinated approach to “what is a very, very difficult situation.”
He added that “We don’t want to be tripping over each other. We want to make sure we’re doing this in a way that is sensitive to the needs of the families”.
On his part, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he’s been in regular contact with Grand Chief Merrick, who he said has been leading the conversations around the potential landfill search along with Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson.
The mayor continued that the scale, timing and cost of a potential search have not yet been determined, and a decision hasn’t yet been made on whether the study will include the city’s Brady Road landfill.
Minister Miller stated that the culturally sensitive feasibility study will determine what resources are available through police, the province and the federal government and “to see what resources are necessary to recover bodies.”
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