Blockade closes Brady Road landfill again

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This article was published 07/07/2023 (1034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg has shut down the Brady Road landfill — for the second time — due to another blockade initiated by the families of two women slain by an alleged Winnipeg serial killer.

The municipal government announced it had closed the Brady Road 4R depot and landfill, south of the city, until further notice in a social media message Friday, one day after the protest began.

“Contingency plans for garbage and recycling collection are in place, and we are trying to maintain these services without disruption during the closure,” the statement reads.

“The Panet Road and Pacific Avenue 4R Winnipeg depots remain open if residents wish to dispose of recyclable materials. Residents can also request an extra garbage or large item pickup, or contact local private landfill operators in the area to see if they are accepting residential garbage.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city is looking at its options “but garbage collection is an essential service that must continue.”

The blockade was sparked by the Manitoba government’s decision to support the installation of a memorial to the victims instead of putting up money to fund a search of a separate landfill north of the city, where the remains of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, are believed to have been dumped.

An Indigenous-led study found a search of that landfill, Prairie Green, would cost as much as $184 million and take as long as three years. Ottawa has not said if it will fund the massive undertaking, which involves removing 61,000 tonnes of waste that includes animal carcasses and asbestos. The plan involves hiring dozens of people, including a forensic anthropologist and up to 28 technicians to do the search.

On Wednesday, Premier Heather Stefanson and Indigenous relations Minister Eileen Clarke met with the families, and Manitoba Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, to inform them about their government’s decision.

This marks the second time protesters have blocked the Brady garbage dump. After several short blockades in December 2022, an encampment was erected and the landfill was closed from Dec. 18 to Jan. 6. A report estimated the closure cost city taxpayers $1.5 million.

Cambria Harris, the daughter of Morgan Harris, said Friday she was not surprised to be back at a blockade.

“I want actions made. I want this landfill searched, I want the Prairie Green landfill searched,” she said while at the landfill’s entrance Friday. “It’s not even just about our community, who else is in this landfill, at Prairie Green?”

No study has been conducted in relation to a search at Brady Road landfill.

On Friday, Harris rejected the premier’s offer to have provincial taxpayers fund a memorial and mental health supports tot he women’s families.

“It makes them look good. And they say, ‘Well, we did offer to be there for the families,’ but that’s not what we want. We don’t want the landfill to remain a grave site, we want them out of there,” she said.

Stefanson said Thursday her government wouldn’t risk the health and safety of workers without a guarantee the women’s remains would be found.

She expressed concern a search could jeopardize the court case and maintained the federal government would be responsibile for a search.

The remains of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois were found in the Brady Road landfill in spring 2022. Winnipeg police believe Contois, Harris, Myran and a fourth victim, who Indigenous elders have named Buffalo Woman, were slain by the same man. Jeremy Skibicki, 36, is scheduled to face trial on four counts of first-degree murder in April 2024.

The Manitoba NDP has been conspicuously silent on the issue heading into the Oct. 3 election. On Friday, the party did not provide a comment to the Free Press.

For his part, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, whose party has three seats in Manitoba, said the landfill must be searched.

“Given that Manitoba is ground zero for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada and that a serial killer is suspected, these are unacceptable evasions from a government,” said Lamont.

He accused the Stefanson government of a “failure of leadership and political will,” while calling on the premier to provide funding for a search.

On Friday, at the Brady blockade site, an upside-down Canada flag flew from a pole that leaned against a sign near the entrance.

“I don’t care what the city says. Send in the army, if that’s what it’s gonna take, that’s what I have to say,” said protester Tre Delaronde.

— With files from Chris Kitching

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @malakabas_

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

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