Discussions over a potential search at the Prairie Green Landfill — where Winnipeg police believe the remains of two Indigenous women may be located — continue Friday.
In a joint announcement Thursday afternoon, the city and province said operations have been paused at the site while the feasibility of a search is examined.
Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — alleged to have been killed by accused serial killer Jeremy Skibicki — are in the landfill, located outside the city in the Rural Municipality of Rosser.
Police Chief Danny Smyth, however, has insisted that a search of the landfill isn’t feasible due to environmental conditions, the amount of time that has passed since the murders allegedly took place in the summer, as well as the constant movement of trash at the site.
After a meeting of the Winnipeg Police Board Thursday night, Coun. Markus Chambers, the board’s chair, said time is of the essence if anything is to be done at the landfill site.
“We recognize that the window is short in terms of finding the remains that can help the families process this, but also seeking out the advice of the industry experts and the community,” Chambers told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
“In our conversation yesterday, we realized it’s more than one expert we’re going to have to talk to — it’s about waste management, it’s about anthropologists … it’s a myriad of different experts that are going to have to come forward now.
“(Working with) our Indigenous community leaders we’re going to have to consult with to figure out a path forward.”
MLA Bernadette Smith, who has been heavily involved in the cause of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls after her own sister went missing 14 years ago, said an anthropologist Manitoba’s NDP spoke to says a search of the landfill can be done.
“There would be some definite barriers — safety being one of them, with the hazard material,” Smith said, “but they were looking for solutions.
“There is some expertise out there. There is new technology we’ve been looking at, and it certainly is feasible. We need to do this.”
Smith said one reason to search the site is to make sure there aren’t remains of other missing women whose bodies have been left at Prairie Green as well.
“We want to ensure that there are no other women who could potentially be in that landfill, but we suspect there could be — my sister’s been missing for 14 years. We have no idea where she is. We’ve been searching, as many other families have.”
In a release Friday, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) backed calls by other Indigenous organizations for Smyth to resign, as well as for a plan to conduct a search of the landfill.
“There is such a huge loss of trust between First Nations citizens and the Winnipeg Police Service,” Daniels said.
“Now is the time for the Winnipeg Police Service to take swift action in working to rebuild trust with our Nations. This landfill should be classified as an active crime scene and as such, a search for the remains of our stolen women must take place.”
Daniels said Winnipeg police should be using all of the resources available to scour the site, and should get RCMP assistance where it’s needed.
“Understanding that the site is outside of the city of Winnipeg, we recognize that the RCMP need to get involved to prioritize a forensic search of this landfill,” he said.
“We are asking police to stop using language saying that this is not feasible because this is not truthful. This does not work for us. It doesn’t work for our women and it’s not going to work for our relationship with the police.”