Manitoba PCs apologize to families of murdered women believed to be in Winnipeg-area landfill

Tessa Adamski · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 4:29 PM EST | Last Updated: March 6

Manitoba's Opposition Progressive Conservatives apologized to the families of 4 First Nations women murdered by a serial slayer successful 2022 for refusing to hunt a Winnipeg-area landfill wherever it's believed the remains of 2 of the women were taken.

"Honourable Speaker, our authorities erred. It's arsenic elemental arsenic that," interim PC Leader Wayne Ewasko said during question play astatine the Manitoba Legislature connected Wednesday. 

"We went guardant and followed proposal to stress prosecution supra all. We mislaid our mode successful regards to empathy and besides mislaid our mode successful regards to closure being brought guardant to the families of the victims," Ewasko said.

While successful government, the Progressive Conservatives, nether past premier Heather Stefanson, said the state would not assistance money the hunt for 2 women believed to beryllium successful the Prairie Green landfill, citing wellness and information concerns for workers and debased prospects of success.

The decision not to hunt the landfill for Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, led to wide choler among the families of the victims, First Nations leaders and assemblage members. 

An advertisement tally by the PC Party before the October 2023 provincial election, successful which the PCs were defeated by the NDP, said, "For wellness and information reasons, the reply connected the landfill excavation conscionable has to beryllium no."

Ewasko said the enactment is offering an "unconditional apology" to the families and that they person his connection the enactment volition "be better."

When Ewasko was asked by reporters afterwards if helium was apologizing for the advertisement campaign, the connection utilized oregon the refusal to hunt the landfill, helium said it was a "combination of everything." 

Cambria Harris, a girl of Morgan Harris, said she feels conflicted astir the public apology, saying no 1 from the PCs has contacted the household privately to apologize oregon sermon a quality rights complaint she filed against the enactment implicit a twelvemonth ago.

"I admit the apology that was made today, but you know, if it wasn't for those actions of the erstwhile PC government, my household wouldn't person been lasting astatine the landfill contiguous waiting for our loved ones to beryllium brought home," she told CBC. 

"Apologizing is 1 thing, but really taking accountability and changing your actions to guarantee calamity doesn't hap similar that again volition accidental otherwise." 

Possible remains found

Morgan Harris and Myran, both primitively from Long Plain First Nation, were 2 of the victims of Jeremy Skibicki, who was convicted past July of 4 counts of first-degree execution in their killings, and successful the deaths of Rebecca Contois, 24, from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, and a still-unidentified pistillate who has been fixed the sanction Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, oregon Buffalo Woman, by assemblage leaders.

Contois's partial remains were recovered successful a garbage bin adjacent Skibicki's flat successful Winnipeg successful mid-May 2022. More of her remains were recovered astatine the city-run Brady Road landfill successful June 2022. The remains of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe have ne'er been found.

Police person said they judge she was Indigenous and successful her 20s.

During the 2023 predetermination campaign, the NDP committed to a hunt of the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Harris and Myran.

Excavation enactment successful that search began successful December, and past week, imaginable quality remains were found.

The families were notified of the find and spent the remainder of the time astatine the landfill, Kinew previously said. 

The pursuing day, the families held a quality league urging the PC Party to bash better. 

PCs indispensable beryllium they've learned: Kinew

Kinew said the enactment to hunt the landfill has been respectful of the families' wishes, and has shown that searching the landfill was "always feasible."

"It remains to beryllium seen whether the Progressive Conservative Party … volition larn the unspeakable mistakes of Heather Stefanson and instrumentality those going forward, but again, it's up to them to amusement that through their actions now," helium said during question play Wednesday.

PC enactment campaigner Obby Khan, who was a authorities furniture curate portion the Tories were campaigning against the landfill search, deflected questions connected whether helium agreed with the apology.

"I deliberation that's a question for the existent interim person to answer. When I go leader, I volition person my connection going
guardant connected that," Khan told reporters.

"Right present our interim person has spoken and his comments are wide connected [where] helium stands."

The different enactment candidate, concern proprietor Wally Daudrich, didn't instantly respond to a petition for comment. 

Cambria Harris questions whether the party's apology is genuine oregon an accidental to "save face" aft past week's find of imaginable remains.

"We're doing the enactment that they said couldn't initially beryllium done from the precise opening and my household was utilized for a governmental run … where they blasted billboards successful each the spots that my ma was past seen," she said. 

"Their words, they're conscionable specified words close present until I spot actions and healing wrong america arsenic a people, but besides wrong a government."