Search the Landfills gathering on Parliament Hill, September 18

PBI-Canada will be on Parliament Hill on Monday September 18 starting at 12 noon for the International Day of Action to Search the Landfills event.

This day honours missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people whose remains are either already found or believed to be in the Brady Road and Prairie Green Landfills in Winnipeg and other landfills across Canada.

The House of Commons Sitting Calendar indicates that September 18 is the day that Members of Parliament will be returning to the House of Commons.

Organizers with Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS) are calling for people to be on Parliament Hill “on the 18th when the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran face parliamentarians returning to the House after summer break.”

The Standing Bear Network also highlights: “One crucial aspect of the September 18th event is the scheduled press conference at 10 AM (EDT). The exact location is yet to be determined but will likely be in close proximity to Parliament Hill. This press conference offers an opportunity for organizers, victims’ families, advocates, and allies to address the media directly.”

It is believed that the remains of Morgan and Marcedes, who were murdered in May 2022, are in the Prairie Green landfill in Winnipeg.

In December 2022, the Winnipeg Police Service announced it would not search the landfill for their remains. That same month, the RCMP also told federal officials that police are not equipped to conduct such a search. In July 2023, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said it was not “viable” to search the landfill.

A study led by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) says a search is feasible at a cost of up to $184 million over three years.

In December 2015, the Government of Canada launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The final report of that National Inquiry released in June 2019 concluded that the high level of violence against First Nations, Inuit and Metis women and girls is “caused by state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism and colonial ideologies” and that the crisis constituted an ongoing “race, identity and gender-based genocide.”

This summer, Leah Gazan, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, filed a submission with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples that states: “I am requesting international oversight on the failure of governments to search for our stolen sisters, and uphold the human rights of Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.”

To donate to support the organizing of this event on Parliament Hill via an electronic money transfer (EMT): familiesofsistersinspirit@gmail.com

#SearchTheLandfills