Human-rights complaint against Manitoba NDP government over landfill search 'not accurate,' minister says

Manitoba's premier and minister of families say their government continues to work toward a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women believed to be the victims of an alleged serial killer, after a human-rights complaint accused the province of inaction.

Cambria Harris accused the current NDP provincial government of failing to allocate resources for searches of the Brady Road and Prairie Green landfills in one of two human-rights complaints filed with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission last week.

It's believed the remains of her mother, Morgan Harris, are at the Prairie Green landfill, north of the city.

Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Tuesday the accusation against her government is "not accurate."

"Nothing has changed on our end," she said at a news conference.

"We are committed to searching the landfill. It takes work and it takes co-ordination, and there are several key stakeholders that we are actively working with."

Winnipeg police said just over a year ago they believe the remains of Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, were taken to the Prairie Green landfill in May 2022.

The women's families have been fighting since police made that announcement to have the landfill searched.

The other human-rights complaint filed by Harris and family advocate Robyn Johnston accuses the former Progressive Conservative provincial government of a Human Rights Code breach, saying the party's election campaign ads opposing a landfill search amounted to discrimination.

Fontaine said Premier Wab Kinew has made his government's commitment to a landfill search "explicitly clear" through active engagement with the families and a formal apology for the PC election ads.

Province 'taking the time to get things right': Kinew

Kinew says the province is "taking the time to get things right" and will continue to work with families, governments and Indigenous leaders on a potential search.

"As I've said … you will see us move forward in the first half of this year," which will include a timeline for a search, he told reporters on Tuesday.

"We're going to keep doing the work of making sure that a search gets done," he said in response to a question about the province's path forward in its relationship with the affected families.

In late December, Kinew said he wanted to see a search of Prairie Green begin sometime this year, adding that the province had identified the internal resources required and was working with the federal government to determine its role.

A federally funded feasibility study done last spring found a search of the landfill could cost up to $184 million and take up to three years to complete.

The report said safety measures could be taken to mitigate the potential hazards of the search.

The federal government announced in October that it was providing $740,000 to Long Plain First Nation — Harris and Myran's home community — to further review the details of what's needed for a potential search.

The trial of the man accused of killing Harris and Myran, as well as two other women, is scheduled to begin at the end of April.

Jeremy Skibicki was charged in December 2022 with first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran and a still-unidentified woman later given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rebecca Contois, 24, earlier that year.

Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to all four counts of first-degree murder.