Manitoba shuts down Prairie Green Landfill search site

The Manitoba government has officially decommissioned the search site at a Winnipeg-area landfill where the remains of two slain First Nations women were found last year.

A portion of the Prairie Green landfill, just north of the city, had been sectioned off for the search, which concluded in July after workers recovered the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

The women and two others died at the hands of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki in 2022. He was convicted two years later on four counts of first-degree murder.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday the landfill continues to operate.

“Returning it to that normal operation meant removing the search facility that we had constructed on-site, removing the healing space for the families that we have established, and then a bunch of other basically remediation-type activities,” he said.

The province said the final cost of the seven-month search at the landfill came to $18.4 million.

It had been estimated to take up to three years and cost as much as $184 million.

The previous Progressive Conservative government had rejected calls for a search at the landfill, citing safety and cost concerns. It later touted its refusal in 2023 election campaign ads, which were widely criticized.

Kinew promised a search before winning the 2023 election. His NDP government later partnered with the federal government to jointly commit $40 million to the project.

An environmental licence for the search was issued that laid out guidelines for dealing with cancer-causing asbestos and other material.

“Over the course of the past few years, we’ve systematically shown that this landfill search was possible, that it could be done with respect for the environment, could be done safely, and that it can be done in a very financially responsible fashion,” said Kinew.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) said the women’s families, First Nations leadership and community members pushed for the search. They even took their fight to Parliament Hill and the steps of the Manitoba legislature.

“Today’s update must be understood as the result of years of advocacy by the families, First Nations leadership, and community members who refused to let this issue be dismissed,” said AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson. “The completion of this search is not only a technical outcome; it is a reminder that governments have a responsibility to listen, to act, and to uphold the dignity of First Nations women and families. The AMC will continue to stand with the families as they seek justice, accountability, and healing.”

“We always knew this work could be done,” added Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Harris and director of the assembly’s missing and murdered First Nation peoples unit. “This should have never been about a dollar amount when it comes to searching for our loved ones.

“These are our families, our relatives and our nations. The responsibility to bring them home must always come before cost.”

The search continues for another murder victim.

After the remains of Harris and Myran were discovered, the search moved to Winnipeg’s Brady Road landfill.

Crews have been looking at that site for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose since December. And it could take some time.

Kinew said workers at the Brady Road landfill have seen encouraging signs, with dates found on material collected, that they’re looking in the right area.

He said crews with the Prairie Green search handled more commercial waste and those at the Brady Road facility are looking through a large amount of residential refuse.

“It means that they’re proceeding at a slower pace,” the premier said.

Skibicki’s trial heard that he targeted his victims at Winnipeg homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.

The remains of Rebecca Contois were first discovered in a Winnipeg garbage bin and at the Brady Road landfill in 2022.