Manitoba health authority fires employee over 'disparaging' landfill search social media post

A Manitoba health authority says it has fired an employee over a social media post about the landfill search for the remains of two First Nations women murdered by a serial killer in 2022.

The Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA) says its leadership was made aware of the post "disparaging" the landfill search after "multiple staff members recognized the post as racist and brought it forward."

"An immediate investigation confirmed the post was linked to an IERHA employee. Direction was given to remove the post and the employee is now no longer working with IERHA," the health authority said in a public post earlier this week.

"Posts of this nature are deeply hurtful. We remain committed to reconciliation, anti-racism and to mitigating further harms through swift and decisive action."

The health authority did not provide further details, including what job the employee had.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, CEO Marion Ellis said the actions the health authority took related to the social media post "were necessary and reasonable in accordance with organizational policies," pointing to its anti-racism policy.

"We are collectively responsible for delivering trusted, culturally safe and compassionate care to all people seeking health-care services," the statement said. 

"It is vital that people who interact with the health-care system are respected and cared for in a kind and safe way."

The search for the remains of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg began last month.

The women's remains are presumed to have been deposited at the private landfill in 2022, after they were murdered by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

Skibicki was convicted in 2024 of four counts of first-degree murder in connection with Harris and Myran's deaths and the killings of two other women: Rebecca Contois, 24, and a still-unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community leaders.

She was believed to be in her 20s, and court determined based on the evidence she was also Indigenous.

Partial remains belonging to Contois were discovered in garbage bins near Skibicki's apartment and at Winnipeg's city-run Brady Road landfill in 2022.

Contois was a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, also known as Crane River, located on the western shore of Lake Manitoba. Harris and Myran were both members of Long Plain First Nation in south central Manitoba.

All three women were living in Winnipeg at the time of their deaths.