Content warning: The following story contains details of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls can contact the MMIWG Crisis Line toll-free at 1-844-413-6649.
Since the province of Manitoba’s refusal to commit to a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women, a grassroots protest movement has increased pressure against the provincial government.
Despite calls by First Nations leaders, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson stated the province would not conduct a search of the Prairie Green Landfill. The reasons a search has been refused, according to a statement attributed to Stefanson and Manitoba Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke, was due to factors that include “health and safety concerns” and complexity. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick called the move “bullshit.”
Even federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller called Stefanson’s decision “heartless,” when commenting on the situation. “Heartless Heather” has since become a rallying call for protestors at the landfill.
Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson rejects the government’s excuses, and said in a press conference it can be done “with the necessary precautions and necessary training” provided to those who would conduct the search.
Multiple forensic experts have also stated the risks can be mitigated, and a search of the landfill can be safely done. Similar searches have been conducted in BC and Ontario, with the search in Sault Saint Marie, Ont. following the exact same process that would be conducted in Winnipeg.
“The same process that was used in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario is the same process we would use or that can be used in Winnipeg,” said forensic anthropologist Emily Holland during a panel by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. “It can be done safely.”
On July 6, In response to the provincial government’s refusal, protestors set up a blockade on the way into the landfill to pressure a search of the facility. The blockade was made subject to a court injunction on July 14, but protestors remained until it was torn down on Tuesday, July 18. A demonstrator at the time told reporters the protestors’ have no plans to stop.
“We’ll block railways, we’ll block highways.”
A second encampment has since been established at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
NDP Winnipeg-Centre MP Leah Gazan told rabble the focus on the blockade took away from the real underlying issue, namely the continued failure to address the crisis of Murdered, MIssing Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit Peoples (MMIWG2S), with only two calls from the MMIWG2S inquiry being done since it was released four years ago.
“I think the focus needs to go, however, on the fact that the prime minister himself called this an ongoing genocide, and his response has been lacking,” Gazan said. “It has been lacking at all levels of government responding to this.”
Gazan has also written to the UN, calling for a study into the handling of the case under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), which Canada passed to fully adopt.
The hashtag #SearchTheLandfill has been used by supporters of the search, including Associate Vice President of Academic and Indigenous Programs at Laurentian University Dominic HK Beaudry, police abolitionist group Winnipeg Police Cause Harm, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles, University of Manitoba Indigenous Studies Professor Sean Carleton and many others.
Gazan said it was good to see support coming from unions, faith communities in Manitoba, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who just want justice.
The Canadian Labour Congress released a joint statement with the Manitoba Federation of Labour condemning the lack of action.
“The decision on whether to search the landfill, first and foremost must be made keeping basic decency, respect for human life and spirit in mind,” the statement reads. “Indigenous Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S) women are not garbage.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Manitoba released a statement that workers at the landfill site can and should safely search the area for the remains of the two Indigenous women.
“Premier Stefanson’s remarks that safety concerns prohibit a search are false: there is no reason this cannot be done,” the statement read.
Due to this public support, Gazan said the will is only missing in governmental circles.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of support, I do think it’s lacking in political will to address this ongoing genocide in the country,” said Gazan. “This is the latest example.”
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