Amnesty International has joined the call to search a pair of Manitoba landfills for the remains of three Indigenous women.
In a statement Thursday, the human rights organization — alongside the grassroots group Families of Sisters in Spirit — said it denounces Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson’s decision not to search the Prairie Green and Brady Road landfills for the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman who was been called Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
The controversy stems from the province’s refusal to move forward with a search, citing safety reasons, earlier this summer, and has resulted in numerous demonstrations — including a two-week-long blockade — and legal manoeuvring.
Support for a search has continued to grow in recent months, with groups across Canada expressing solidarity with the women’s families.
A Winnipeg man faces first-degree murder charges in connection with the three women’s deaths, as well as that of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois, whose body was found in the Brady landfill last year.
Amnesty International said it will participate in a sit-in Sept. 18 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which has been dubbed the International Day of Action to Search the Landfills.
“Premier Stefanson’s refusal to search the landfills is indefensible and sends the appalling message that the lives of Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people are not valued in Canada,” Amnesty’s Canadian secretary-general Ketty Nivyabandi said in the statement.
“The government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba must prioritize and adequately fund a search of the landfills to return Marcedes, Morgan and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe to their loved ones without further delay.”
Stefanson and Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives have held fast to their position that a costly search of the landfills presents too severe a health and safety risk. With a provincial election on the horizon this fall, leaders of the opposition NDP and Liberal parties have each signalled their support for action on the landfill issue.