Winnipeg city councillor's motion calls for federal, provincial funds for landfill search

Some Winnipeg city councillors are calling on the federal and provincial governments to support a search of a privately owned landfill for the remains of two women.

Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy brought forward a motion at Thursday's city council meeting that would formally ask the two senior levels of government to fund the search.

Searching Prairie Green landfill "would send a clear message that governments will do what they can to bring justice to these victims and their families," the motion said.

The motion was seconded by Point Douglas Coun. Vivian Santos. It would have needed two-thirds of council members to vote to suspend the rules for the motion to be considered during Thursday's meeting.

Council members split on the vote 8-8, meaning the motion to suspend the rules did not pass. Gilroy's motion will be debated at the next executive policy committee meeting in September.

Earlier on Thursday, Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins issued her own statement calling for federal and provincial officials to work with the families of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris to search the Prairie Green Landfill.

Police believe the remains of the two women are in the landfill. They are two of four women that Jeremy Skibicki is accused of killing. 

Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois and a fourth, unidentified woman, whom community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

Contois's partial remains were found last year in the Brady Road landfill. Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains have not been found.

A feasibility study, funded by the federal government and led by Indigenous groups, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, estimated it could take up to three years and cost $184 million to search Prairie Green.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson announced last week that the province would not fund the search, citing safety concerns.

That sparked anger among the families of the women, and led to a blockade of the main entrance to the City of Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill.

Yesterday, federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller called the provincial decision "heartless." 

At the beginning of Thursday's council meeting, Mayor Scott Gillingham expressed condolences to the families. 

He repeated his statement from the previous day, saying the families are "stuck between two senior levels of government."

"The families need a clear indication of the path ahead, the city needs a resolution to the Brady Road protest, and the entire community needs the senior levels of government to reach an agreement on this issue," Gillingham said.

A hearing on the city's application for a court order to remove the protesters from the landfill entrance is happening Thursday.