Family of alleged serial killer's victim will hold ceremony at Winnipeg landfill

The family of a woman who Winnipeg police say was the victim of an alleged serial killer will hold a ceremony for her at a city landfill, where the remains of another woman were found earlier this year.

Cambria Harris said the ceremony to honour her mother, 39-year-old Morgan Harris, will happen Friday around 6 p.m. at the Brady Road landfill, following a meeting she said happened between city representatives and her family earlier this week. The city did not respond to questions about that meeting or the ceremony.

She said an elder will bless the site, where her family will smudge and leave a spirit dish for her mother. That dish typically contains food and is put out in honour of a loved one who has died, she said.

The 21-year-old is among those calling for the city-run Brady Road landfill and the private Prairie Green landfill to be searched for remains. 

"I don't have anywhere that I can go visit my mother right now," she said.

"I don't want to go to the landfill and pay my respects there. That's morally wrong. It's a disgrace. It's demeaning. And she deserves a home that isn't the landfill."

Calls to search have grown since police said earlier this month they believe the remains of Harris's mother and another woman, 26-year-old Marcedes Myran, were put in the Prairie Green landfill after they were killed, allegedly by a man now charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Jeremy Skibicki's lawyer has said his client plans to plead not guilty.

The federal and Manitoba governments and Winnipeg's mayor have pledged their support for a study into whether it would be feasible to search the Prairie Green site for the women's remains.

Harris said her family already had a sacred fire near the Prairie Green landfill. 

But without information about why investigators believe her mother's remains are there — which police said they determined in June — her family wants to make sure they also honour her in the place where another of Skibicki's alleged victims, 24-year-old Rebecca Contois, were found that same month.

"There is a lot that I don't know. And I understand why I don't know," she said, referring to the ongoing investigation and court proceedings.

"But as a family and as, you know, the daughter of someone who was murdered, [allegedly] by a serial killer, it traumatizes me and it hurts me to not know what's going on.

"It is hard to trust what they have to say. But I do have to trust them in the investigation process, because my biggest concern right now is bringing these women justice."

The search for Contois's remains began after police found her partial remains near a North Kildonan apartment building in May.

Police have said they don't know the location of the remains of a fourth woman police allege was killed by Skibicki, who Indigenous leaders have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, until she's identified.

Harris said Friday's ceremony is for her mother, but it will also honour other missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. 

And while she appreciates seeing city representatives and officials working with her family as they seek closure, she said "this is still a fight that we shouldn't have to take on."

Progress on ending landfill blockade: councillor

The Brady Road landfill has also been the site of a blockade for most of the past week, as protesters prevent access and call for searches for the women's remains.

In a news release on Thursday, the city said it's continuing to restrict public access to the site.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital), chair of the city's water, waste and environment committee, said talks are continuing with protesters.

He said trucks moving leachate out of the dump site have again been allowed access to do that work every few days, which he said takes some time pressure off ending the blockade.

"As long as you're still talking, that's a sign, I think, that things are progressing," Mayes said.

He said the cell in the Brady Road landfill where Contois's remains were found has also already been capped as a result of regular operations, meaning nothing further will be dumped in the area.

The city's news release confirmed that cell is not in use. The current cell the city is using has been in use since July, it said.

Mayes said he's hopeful the only active landfill run by the city will be able to start operating again soon, since garbage being blocked from entering drives down city revenue and boosts costs to pay private operators.

He said he's also started getting emails and calls from people urging the city to move the protesters. And while he understands that frustration, he also understands the protesters' concerns.

"I think most people would too, right? There's a lot of history with missing and murdered Indigenous women. There's a lot of concern out there that the city may have taken this too lightly," he said.

"People in the city's staff are, I think, talking in good faith to Indigenous government leaders, talking to people from the families, trying to get some sort of resolution.

"There's frustration that's growing on both sides, but … I'm optimistic some sort of resolution can be reached and access can start up again."