Manitobans are invited to pay their respects to the late Cathy Merrick at the Manitoba legislature on Wednesday afternoon.
Merrick, who had served as grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs since 2022, died suddenly on Friday at 62 after collapsing outside a Winnipeg courthouse while speaking with reporters.
She made history in October 2022 when she was elected as the first-ever woman to lead AMC.
A passionate advocate for First Nations people and communities, Merrick was at the forefront of the push to search a landfill for the remains of two Indigenous victims of a Winnipeg serial killer.
She was also known for her efforts to reform the child-welfare system and to improve health care and other services in Manitoba First Nations.
At the time of her collapse Friday, she was speaking out against the acquittal of a Manitoba corrections officer who was charged in the death of an Indigenous inmate.
Merrick is lying in state and there will be a public viewing Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m., where people can also sign a book of condolences. The book will be available to sign from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the rest of the week before being gifted to her family.
Arrangements have also been made for a wake and a funeral in her home community of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, where she was a longtime councillor, followed by a five-year stint as chief. Merrick’s remains will leave Winnipeg for Cross Lake, Man., on Thursday.
The flags at the legislature will stay at half-mast until the funeral Saturday.
Lying in state isn’t a common honour in Manitoba.
According to a provincial spokesperson, it has only happened five times before in more than 125 years — most recently for former MP and MLA Elijah Harper in 2013.
Manitoba has no established guidelines as to who can receive a provincial lying-in-state. It’s at the discretion of the premier.
Others given the honour include John Christian Schultz, a former MP, senator and lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, in 1896. Another lieutenant-governor, James Albert Manning Aikins, followed in 1929, along with former premiers Hugh John Macdonald (also in 1929) and Romond Roblin in 1937.