Judge adjourns landfill blockade injunction hearing, wants City of Winnipeg and protesters to negotiate

A judge has adjourned a hearing regarding the City of Winnipeg's request for a court injunction to remove a blockade at the main entrance to the city's Brady Road landfill, meaning protesters will have to wait another day to learn if they will be forced to remove the barricade.

Justice Sheldon Lanchbery said Thursday afternoon he will consider a request from the protesters' lawyer for a further adjournment, but wants both parties to negotiate allowing protesters to stay on site. 

The City of Winnipeg applied for the injunction on Tuesday, arguing the injunction was needed to address concerns about environmental, safety and financial risks that could cause "irreparable harm" to the city.

If granted, the injunction wouldn't require protesters to leave the landfill entirely — they'd only have to clear the roadway. 

Sacha Paul, one of the lawyers for the protest group, requested a longer adjournment to have more time to prepare a case. 

He argued there is no urgency for a decision because an alternative road to the landfill has been opened.

The blockade was set up last week in response to the Manitoba government's decision not to fund a search of the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, where the remains of two First Nations women — Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — are believed to be.

Paul told the court that the term blockade is "very loaded," as it implies that the landfill is somehow completely inaccessible. 

He argued that's not the case here. 

"The problem is the Brady landfill is accessible, on … [the city's] own evidence," he said.

That supports his request for an adjournment, said Paul.

"We submit it is the city's burden to show the urgency," he told the court. 

"This is not a protest for nothing. This is a protest because there is … ongoing violence to Indigenous women, to Indigenous girls in Canada, particularly in Manitoba."

City's case

In court documents filed earlier this week, the city said the diversion of garbage to other landfills may be required if the protest continues, which would cost the city about $41,000 per day.

They also argued that diversion presents environmental, health and safety risks, including a buildup of toxic gases and liquids.

Ashley Pledger, a lawyer representing the City of Winnipeg, told the court that it makes sense that the protesters are seeking a provocative platform, given the ongoing issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. 

She said she acknowledged protesters have sacrificed a significant amount of time and money to maintain a presence at the site, but that their freedoms are not absolute. 

"Charter rights do not give people the right to ignore or break the rule of law," she argued.

Lanchbery adjourned the matter to 11 a.m. Friday. 

Open to compromise: CAO

Outside the courthouse, the city's chief administrative officer, Michael Jack, said the city is open to negotiating with the protesters to come up with a compromise. 

"We really are all ears. The last thing we want is to have to remove anybody," he said.

However, he said the alternative route to the landfill is only usable in dry weather — if it's been rained on, it's impassable, he said. 

The protesters set up their blockade on July 6, calling for a search of Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Harris and Myran, two of the four Indigenous women who police allege were all killed by the same man.

Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in their deaths, and in the death of Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found last year at the Brady Road landfill. He has also been charged in the death of an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. Her remains have not been found.

On July 5, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson announced the province wouldn't support a search of Prairie Green, citing concerns about the health and safety of workers who would have to sift through material at the landfill.

At their annual general assembly in Halifax, members of the Assembly of First Nations passed a motion Thursday calling on Stefanson to reconsider that position.

The motion also affirms AFN's support for "peaceful social actions" at Manitoba landfills and denounces any injunctions "from colonial courts that seek to remove these protesters." 

The issue of searching the landfill also came up at Winnipeg city hall on Thursday, before court heard arguments over the injunction.

Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy wanted city council to debate a motion that would formally ask the provincial and federal governments to fund the search.

However, because the motion wasn't on the agenda for the meeting, council had to vote on whether to suspend its rules in order to allow it to be added.

The vote on suspending the rules fell short of the two-thirds majority needed, meaning the motion wasn't debated at Thursday's meeting.

It will be debated at the next executive policy committee meeting in September.