Search the Prairie Green Landfill for Murdered Indigenous Women

Dear Premier Stefanson,

In solidarity with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), Chief Kyra Wilson of Long Plain First Nation, and the families of the missing victims, I am calling on the Manitoba Government to search the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman).

You recently announced that the Government of Manitoba would not fund the search of the Prairie Green Landfill, stating that the search would be too dangerous for workers. However, the feasibility report on the landfill search clearly states that it can be completed successfully. The report outlines recommendations for on-site hazardous materials teams to monitor air quality, act as safety officers and perform decontamination of personnel who work closely with evacuated materials. Multiple experts have re-asserted that the risks can be mitigated.

Kris Dueck, the forensic consultant who co-chaired the technical feasibility study of a search at Prairie Green stated publicly that, “it’s pretty clear to most who have read the study that risks can be mitigated, and the search can be conducted safely. Any argument that would oppose those findings, in our opinion, aren’t necessarily based in fact.”

Experts have reiterated that landfills have been successfully searched before. In 2021, the body of a suspected murder victim was found by authorities in a London, Ont. landfill, eight months after they were believed to have been brought there. Retired Deputy Chief Sean Spalding of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, also attests to the effectiveness of such operations, having successfully conducted landfill searches.

Your ongoing refusal to search the landfill only perpetuates systemic gender-based, colonial violence against Indigenous women and girls. Lack of institutional will was identified as a key factor contributing to the ongoing MMIWG2s+ crisis in the 2019 MMIWG2s+ inquiry report. It is evidently clear that, in this case too, the primary barrier to searching the Prairie Green Landfill is lack of political will. As the daughter and niece of Morgan Harris have stated, your government’s refusal to search for her remains feels like “a slap in the face” to her grieving relatives.

I urge you to not sustain the injustice suffered by Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, and their families, and search the Prairie Green Landfill.

Sincerely,
Marlene Hale
Wet'suwet'en Elder