PCs issue landfill search apology

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This article was published 06/03/2025 (246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba has issued an “unconditional apology” to the loved ones of four women who were targeted by a serial killer and whose remains are believed to be in Winnipeg-area landfills.

“Our government erred. It’s as simple as that,” Wayne Ewasko, interim leader of the official Opposition, said during his opening remarks in the chamber when the spring legislative session began Wednesday.

When the PCs were in power, prior to the 2023 election, they refused to contribute money for a search of the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, to find remains of two of the women.

The party’s unsuccessful re-election campaign touted plans to “stand firm” on the subject via billboards and other controversial ads.

“We went forward and followed advice to emphasize prosecution above all. We lost our way in regards to empathy and also, lost our way in regards to closure being brought forward to the families of the victims,” Ewasko said Wednesday.

The leader apologized directly to the families of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and Buffalo Woman (Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe), whose identity has not been determined.

Ewasko and his colleagues will “be better,” he said, addressing emotional remarks made by Elle Harris, one of Morgan Harris’ daughters, last week.

One week ago, the NDP government announced suspected human remains had been discovered at Prairie Green. A search involving forensic anthropologists began in December.

Mourning relatives immediately condemned critics who did not approve of the dig, many of whom raised potential safety concerns and the overall expense of it, after the news broke. Elle called on opponents to “do better.”

Donna Bartlett, granddaughter of Myran, dismissed the PC caucus apology as politically motivated.

“They want to cover their asses now,” said Bartlett. “They want to try and get into the government again, but they’re not going to be able to if they don’t take responsibility, start thinking of the people.”

Cambria Harris, who is grieving the death of her mother, echoed those comments, saying the he catch-all apology rang hollow.

“Those are just words,” she said. “Until I see further actions, I’ll wait for them to prove me otherwise.”

Harris filed a human rights complaint against the PC party last winter over its billboard ads she said were “inadequately swept under the rug” in the months following.

“For health and safety reasons, the answer on the landfill dig just has to be no,” former premier Heather Stefanson was quoted as saying in promotional materials in 2023. Stefanson apologized for the divisive rhetoric after she lost the race.

The provincial and federal governments have since budgeted $40 million for an extensive search that could continue into 2026.

The ongoing search has been respectful of the Harris and Myran families’ wishes, Premier Wab Kinew said in the chamber Wednesday. “It has also now shown that the project of searching the landfill was always feasible, was always something that could’ve been undertaken by a government with compassion.”

The premier said it remains to be seen whether the Opposition, which he noted is currently in the throes of a leadership contest, will learn from its mistakes.

PC leadership hopeful Obby Khan dodged questions about his personal thoughts on the apology, saying he’d comment on the matter after party members select a new leader on April 26.

“We can all, as human beings and Manitobans, be more empathetic, be more kind, be more compassionate,” the PC MLA for Fort Whyte told reporters during an informal scrum outside the chamber.

“If I do have the honour of one day being the leader of the PC Party of Manitoba, I believe you will see that reflected in the way that I do govern.”

Candidate Wally Daudrich, who does not currently have a seat in the legislature, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Following question period, Ewasko told reporters that he wished he could go back in time and revisit internal party discussions surrounding the 2023 campaign messaging.

The sweeping apology reflects “a combination of everything” the Tories have done on the file, the interim leader said.

Jeremy Skibicki, 35, of Winnipeg was convicted last summer of killing the women: Myran, 26; 39-year-old Harris; Contois, who was 24; and another unknown woman in 2022.

He is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

» Winnipeg Free Press