Manitoba Liberals say they'll cover half of cost for landfill search for remains if elected this fall

The Manitoba Liberals have pledged that if elected this fall, they will pay for half the cost to search a landfill for the remains of two First Nations women.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he believes a search of Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, is long overdue and shouldn't be a political issue, pointing out that similar searches have been done in other provinces. 

"It's achievable and fundamentally … I think people, especially Indigenous people, are losing confidence in our justice system," he said in an interview with CBC News. 

Call have been growing for a search of the privately run landfill, north of Winnipeg, since the Progressive Conservative government said last month it wouldn't support a search of Prairie Green, citing dangers to searchers highlighted in a feasibility report. 

The feasibility study into a potential search was commissioned by an Indigenous-led committee after police said they would not search Prairie Green for the remains of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26.

The study concluded a search is feasible but there would be no guarantee of finding the remains of the women, who Winnipeg police believe were victims of an alleged serial killer. They believe the women's bodies were taken to Prairie Green in May 2022.

The Liberal pledge to support a search came as the party unveiled their community safety and justice platform Thursday at a news conference. 

The Liberals says if they're elected in a vote set for Oct. 3, they would split the cost of searching the Prairie Green landfill with the federal government. 

The federal government has so far not committed to funding a search.

"Canada is committed to acting" but "it is impossible to move forward without the co-operation of the province," a spokesperson for federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a Thursday statement.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew has previously said the province has failed the families of the women believed to be in Prairie Green.

He told reporters last month he thought Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson had "made a serious mistake in ruling out a search."

The Liberals also said Thursday that if elected, they would also expand resources for programs to reduce and break cycles of crime, including more funding for domestic violence shelters. 

They also pledged to establish halfway houses for offenders transitioning out of the provincial jail system.