Story by Kathy Walker, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Studies, University of Saskatchewan • Monday
THE CONVERSATION
Vern DeLaronde, the founder of the First Nations Indigenous Warriors, walks on the main road into the Brady Road landfill, just outside of Winnipeg, July 10, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
AManitoba court recently granted police authority to clear a blockade set up by demonstrators near the Brady Road landfill just outside Winnipeg. Indigenous activists and supporters gathered to protest the province’s decision not to fund a search for the bodies of Indigenous women believed to be at Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) recently passed a resolution, reached by consensus, to denounce the Manitoba government’s decision to not fund the landfill search in the hopes of recovering the remains of Indigenous women believed to be the victims of a serial killer.
The AFN resolution affirmed the position of First Nations leadership across Canada that all three orders of government — municipal, provincial and federal — have a responsibility to support the landfill search in Manitoba.
The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who are members of the Long Plain First Nation, as well as those of Buffalo Woman or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, an unidentified Indigenous woman in her 20s, are believed to be in the Prairie Green landfill.
Only the remains of one of the victims, Rebecca Contois, were recovered from the city-owned Brady Road landfill.
These women are believed by Winnipeg police to have been killed and their bodies dumped in the garbage by a suspected serial killer between March and May 2022. Jeremy Skibicki is facing four first-degree murder charges.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson has said the province’s main justification for rejecting the search for the remains of the missing Indigenous women is because of technical concerns, including the ability to guarantee worker safety.
Does this decision truly centre on technical feasibility? Or is it emblematic of the larger political problem of a lack of institutional will to tackle the ongoing violence towards Indigenous women, girls, queer and two-spirit people in Canada?
This lack of institutional will was identified in the 2019 MMIWG2S+ national inquiry report as a key systemic factor in the ongoing violence. Indigenous women in Canada are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women, according to the report.
In opposing the search, the Manitoba premier does not acknowledge the larger issue of the ongoing violence towards Indigenous women.
Technical issue?
Instead, the reasons provided by the Manitoba government to not search the landfill site centre on both technical concerns as well as financial considerations.
The provincial government cited safety concerns for searchers, as well as the estimated length and high cost, and the likelihood that it may not be successful, outlined in a feasibility study of the search.
But according to some media reports, the study did ultimately find that a search was feasible, although it of course could not guarantee the women’s remains would be found.
Indigenous leaders, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and the AFN, are not buying the province’s rejection of the search as a technical problem or safety concern.
Vern DeLaronde, the founder of the First Nations Indigenous Warriors, walks on the main road into the Brady Road landfill, just outside of Winnipeg, July 10, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
AManitoba court recently granted police authority to clear a blockade set up by demonstrators near the Brady Road landfill just outside Winnipeg. Indigenous activists and supporters gathered to protest the province’s decision not to fund a search for the bodies of Indigenous women believed to be at Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) recently passed a resolution, reached by consensus, to denounce the Manitoba government’s decision to not fund the landfill search in the hopes of recovering the remains of Indigenous women believed to be the victims of a serial killer.
The AFN resolution affirmed the position of First Nations leadership across Canada that all three orders of government — municipal, provincial and federal — have a responsibility to support the landfill search in Manitoba.
The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who are members of the Long Plain First Nation, as well as those of Buffalo Woman or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, an unidentified Indigenous woman in her 20s, are believed to be in the Prairie Green landfill.
Only the remains of one of the victims, Rebecca Contois, were recovered from the city-owned Brady Road landfill.
These women are believed by Winnipeg police to have been killed and their bodies dumped in the garbage by a suspected serial killer between March and May 2022. Jeremy Skibicki is facing four first-degree murder charges.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson has said the province’s main justification for rejecting the search for the remains of the missing Indigenous women is because of technical concerns, including the ability to guarantee worker safety.
Does this decision truly centre on technical feasibility? Or is it emblematic of the larger political problem of a lack of institutional will to tackle the ongoing violence towards Indigenous women, girls, queer and two-spirit people in Canada?
This lack of institutional will was identified in the 2019 MMIWG2S+ national inquiry report as a key systemic factor in the ongoing violence. Indigenous women in Canada are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women, according to the report.
In opposing the search, the Manitoba premier does not acknowledge the larger issue of the ongoing violence towards Indigenous women.
Technical issue?
Instead, the reasons provided by the Manitoba government to not search the landfill site centre on both technical concerns as well as financial considerations.
The provincial government cited safety concerns for searchers, as well as the estimated length and high cost, and the likelihood that it may not be successful, outlined in a feasibility study of the search.
But according to some media reports, the study did ultimately find that a search was feasible, although it of course could not guarantee the women’s remains would be found.
Indigenous leaders, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and the AFN, are not buying the province’s rejection of the search as a technical problem or safety concern.
Related video: Manitoba families, experts demand landfill search as condemnation grows (Global News) They are not garbage.Duration 2:28 View on Watch
AMC Grand Chief Cathy Merrick has dismissed claims of safety concerns as an issue because they have been analyzed in the feasibility report, including the identification of measures that could be taken to mitigate risk to searchers.
Supporters say other landfills in Canada have been searched with a combination of police, firefighters and volunteers. It is true that remains are often not found, yet the searches were still conducted.
Diane Bousquet, an activist for Indigenous rights, puts red hand prints on the main road into the Brady Road landfill, just outside of Winnipeg, July 10, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
High price tag?
Supporters have countered the potentially high price tag of the search (which could cost $184 million) by pointing out that in at least one other search — the 2021 search of a landfill near London, Ont. for the remains of Nathaniel Brettell — the total cost of the search was neither publicly contemplated nor calculated in advance by policymakers and neither was it communicated by any media.
The Manitoba NDP have voiced support for the search, noting that measures could be taken to bring down costs in addition to mitigating safety concerns, again dispensing with the “technical” concerns.
The financial scrutiny of this issue by policymakers and the media suggests that technical considerations are a smokescreen to justify a lack of action by government when Indigenous victims are involved.
Lack of political will
The AFN resolution ties the issue to the broader context of the need for governments, including law enforcement, to actively work to end violence against Indigenous women and girls by adequately searching for and recovering the remains of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
It would seem that they believe a lack of institutional will is a factor.
Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller called the provincial government’s decision “heartless.” He said this decision now mars the capacity of the federal government to aid in a search. In response, the premier of Manitoba accused the federal government of politicizing the issue.
The premier’s accusation that it is unnecessary politics to connect this search with the deeply rooted social and economic issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is not a new stance by government officials.
It was not so long ago that federal Conservative Leader Stephen Harper also refused to consider the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people as a broader issue that warranted political action. Instead, his government narrowed it to a criminal matter to be dealt with by law enforcement.
Activists blocking the main road into the Brady Road landfill, just outside of Winnipeg on July 10, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
The 231 Calls to Justice of the MMIWG2S+ report characterize this violence as a systemic issue that requires necessary action be taken by governments. Such narrow framing and choosing not to deal with the issue through better policy decisions points to an ongoing lack of political, institutional will.
From 2016 to 2019, the province of Manitoba participated in the inquiry and affirmed its commitment to the calls to justice. It has also taken some steps to realize these commitments.
If Premier Stefanson wants to continue to fulfil the calls for justice started by her predecessor, that would include taking all necessary measures to prevent and investigate cases of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.
It would seem that where there is a political will, there is a way.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.
Read more:
What happened to the Senate inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women?
Federal policy has failed to protect Indigenous women
Kathy Walker has volunteered for Saskatchewan NDP and federal Liberal party candidates in Saskatchewan in two elections.
Winnipeg mayor is supportive of landfill search for remains, Indigenous leaders say
Story by The Canadian Press • 6h ago
Winnipeg mayor is supportive of landfill search for remains, Indigenous leaders say© Provided by The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG — Mayor Scott Gillingham offered support for a landfill search for human remains, some Indigenous leaders said after a one-hour meeting with him Thursday, adding the Manitoba government remains an obstacle.
"I'm really happy that the mayor's office is trying to figure out ways that they can support the search," Chief Kyra Wilson, of Long Plain First Nation, said.
"And we don't know what that is yet, but we do know that they are coming to some sort of options, ideas, suggestions."
Pressure has been building for a search of the privately owned Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, whose remains are believed to have been dumped there last year.
Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in those deaths and the deaths of two other Indigenous women — Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found last year at the city-owned Brady Road landfill, and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders are calling Buffalo Woman, whose remains have not been found.
The Manitoba government has said it will not support a search because it would expose searchers to asbestos and toxic chemicals with no guarantee of success.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen reiterated that concern Thursday, and said he understands the families' call for a search.
"If it were my son, I would advocate for my son. The provincial government has to consider all families. It has to consider what the risk is for the families and for those who might be doing a search on an industrial landfill site," Goertzen said.
Goertzen also reiterated a concern that a lengthy search could delay or interfere with the trial of the man accused of the killings.
A federally funded study found a search of the landfill is feasible, but many measures would be needed to reduce the risk to workers. It also said a search could take three years, cost up to $184 million and offer no guarantee the remains would be found.
The federal government has not ruled out leading a search but said landfills are a provincial responsibility and provincial approval would likely be needed.
"We will continue engaging the province into our conversations, and we look forward to having them at the table," read a prepared statement Thursday from the office of Marc Miller, federal minister for Crown-Indigenous relations.
Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, said the three levels of government have to work out a solution.
"In my culture, we believe that if you don't get that proper burial with ceremony, then you are stuck between this world and the spirit world," Harris said.
"I would hate to be looking down at my body in a landfill, knowing that all levels of government wouldn't step in to search for me."
Harris and supporters set up a blockade of the Brady Road landfill earlier this month when the province announced it would not support a search. The blockade was removed Tuesday, four days after the city obtained a court injunction.
Protesters are maintaining two camps to continue to press their demands: one near the Brady Road landfill and another outside the Canadian Museum For Human Rights in downtown Winnipeg.
Harris, who was also part of the meeting with Gillingham, said the group discussed options such as having the city provide land near the Prairie Green Landfill for machinery and buildings needed for a search.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023
Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Story by The Canadian Press • 6h ago
Winnipeg mayor is supportive of landfill search for remains, Indigenous leaders say© Provided by The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG — Mayor Scott Gillingham offered support for a landfill search for human remains, some Indigenous leaders said after a one-hour meeting with him Thursday, adding the Manitoba government remains an obstacle.
"I'm really happy that the mayor's office is trying to figure out ways that they can support the search," Chief Kyra Wilson, of Long Plain First Nation, said.
"And we don't know what that is yet, but we do know that they are coming to some sort of options, ideas, suggestions."
Pressure has been building for a search of the privately owned Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, whose remains are believed to have been dumped there last year.
Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in those deaths and the deaths of two other Indigenous women — Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found last year at the city-owned Brady Road landfill, and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders are calling Buffalo Woman, whose remains have not been found.
The Manitoba government has said it will not support a search because it would expose searchers to asbestos and toxic chemicals with no guarantee of success.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen reiterated that concern Thursday, and said he understands the families' call for a search.
"If it were my son, I would advocate for my son. The provincial government has to consider all families. It has to consider what the risk is for the families and for those who might be doing a search on an industrial landfill site," Goertzen said.
Related video: Police end blockade at Winnipeg landfill (The Canadian Press)Duration 1:38 View on Watch
Goertzen also reiterated a concern that a lengthy search could delay or interfere with the trial of the man accused of the killings.
A federally funded study found a search of the landfill is feasible, but many measures would be needed to reduce the risk to workers. It also said a search could take three years, cost up to $184 million and offer no guarantee the remains would be found.
The federal government has not ruled out leading a search but said landfills are a provincial responsibility and provincial approval would likely be needed.
"We will continue engaging the province into our conversations, and we look forward to having them at the table," read a prepared statement Thursday from the office of Marc Miller, federal minister for Crown-Indigenous relations.
Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, said the three levels of government have to work out a solution.
"In my culture, we believe that if you don't get that proper burial with ceremony, then you are stuck between this world and the spirit world," Harris said.
"I would hate to be looking down at my body in a landfill, knowing that all levels of government wouldn't step in to search for me."
Harris and supporters set up a blockade of the Brady Road landfill earlier this month when the province announced it would not support a search. The blockade was removed Tuesday, four days after the city obtained a court injunction.
Protesters are maintaining two camps to continue to press their demands: one near the Brady Road landfill and another outside the Canadian Museum For Human Rights in downtown Winnipeg.
Harris, who was also part of the meeting with Gillingham, said the group discussed options such as having the city provide land near the Prairie Green Landfill for machinery and buildings needed for a search.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023
Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
No comments:
Post a Comment