Refusal to search landfill exposed as cynical ploy

Opinion

She said it couldn’t be done and was too dangerous to even attempt.

That was the argument used last summer by then-premier Heather Stefanson when she steadfastly refused to order Prairie Green Landfill to be searched for the remains of two Indigenous women who were among the victims of an admitted serial killer.

A feasibility study on a possible search had just been released, and Stefanson seized upon details describing potential threats to those conducting the search.

“Based on the report, we cannot knowingly risk Manitoba workers’ health and safety for a search without a guarantee,” Stefanson said in a written statement.

Not everyone accepted Stefanson’s argument. One of the authors of the feasibility study said assertions the search was too dangerous weren’t “necessarily based in fact.”

Less than a year later, we see pretty concrete evidence Stefanson was not operating in the realm of fact.

Premier Wab Kinew released details last week of the planned search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. Kinew said he could not guarantee the search would be successful but would “guarantee that we’re going to try.”

This fall, a search team will begin excavating a “target zone,” an area of the landfill that is the size of four football fields and about 10 metres deep. Some forensic experts believe that if remains are found, they will have been preserved by the landfill conditions and might be “relatively” intact.

Workers involved in the search will be trained by Brandon University Prof. Emily Holland, a forensic anthropologist who worked extensively on the search for remains at the farm of serial killer Robert Pickton in British Columbia.

The work will be painstaking and somewhat dangerous, although Holland said workers with no previous experience in forensic anthropology can carry out the searches safely with the right training and expert oversight.

News the search would be starting after so many months of debate and delay is good news on many fronts.

For the families of the victims, there is a slim hope that peace and finality can be obtained. For the broader public, the search will refute the assertions made by some, including Stefanson, who sought to misrepresent the challenge for unpalatable political reasons.

Stefanson’s decision to turn her back on a search last July would turn out to be the beginning of a cynical political campaign, the likes of which Manitobans had never seen.

At first, it wasn’t entirely clear why Stefanson and the Progressive Conservatives had moved so quickly to dismiss expert opinions. As it turned out, it was not because they had other expert opinions to rely on.

Instead, the Tories sensed they had been given a wedge issue that might help stave off what appeared to be almost certain defeat in the fall election.

Opinion polls showed the public was intensely split on whether to proceed with a search. There were very few undecided potential voters, it appeared; people were either firmly opposed or committed supporters.

The Tories could not resist an opportunity to exploit an issue that had apparently provoked angry voters.

In campaign advertisements, the Tories trumpeted their opposition to the search as evidence they were more responsible than parties, including the NDP, that supported an excavation. Stefanson personally pledged to “stand firm” against calls for a search.

The Tory campaign failed in spectacular fashion. Stefanson not only had to suffer the indignity of losing the election, she will carry a certain element of infamy because of her desperate attempts to remain in power.

Although the landfill search is going ahead, that does not mean political risk has been completely eliminated. The Kinew government has settled on a modest budget of $40 million, down from the upper limit of $184 million cited in the original feasibility study, and taken steps to moderate expectations.

The New Democrats have also invested in the construction of a “healing centre” at the landfill so that the victims’ families and their supporters have a place to reflect on the search as it is unfolding.

For those who remain opposed to the entire notion of searching the landfill, remember this: if the chances of finding remains are remote, expensive and dangerous, it’s only because of decisions to delay the search that were made early on.

Although police found out the remains were likely in Prairie Green Landfill five weeks after their investigation began, they did not release that information publicly for nearly six months. By that time, the task of searching the landfill had become infinitely more costly and difficult.

Stefanson claimed a search of the landfill could not be done, although history will show she and her party thought there was more to be gained politically by opposing the search.

Through its actions, the Kinew government is showing not only that a search could be done, but that it should have started a long time ago.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com