Next Tuesday Manitobans go to the polls to elect a premier and the campaign got ugly and racist over the weekend. The Progressive Conservative party is currently in power but they are getting desperate as the NDP had moved into the lead in polls. On Saturday the PCs took out a full-page ad in the Winnipeg Free Press with their platform priorities. Number one was not searching the landfills for the remains of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, two missing and presumed murdered Indigenous women. (see images below)
I have expressed my own ambivalence about the many calls to do a search, yet I also recognize the passion of Indigenous leaders to honour these women by proceeding, whatever the cost or likelihood of success. The United Church of Canada and other denominations have supported this desire as a matter of justice and a group of leaders including our Moderator, travelled to Manitoba in solidarity. I am appalled that the Conservatives have named the choice not to search as some sort of policy priority. There is a recognition that anti-Indigenous racism is a serious problem in Manitoba and this ad appears to be appealing to a segment of society who might value the rejection of a search above other pressing issues.
Chief Kyra Wilson of Long Plain First Nation, the home community for both Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, says the new PC strategy shows a lack of compassion.Chief Wilson suggested Stefanson's repeated focus on the potential cost and safety of a landfill search seems to preclude other ways to move forward: "We're not saying give us $184 million and we'll call it a day. What we're saying is come to the table, have a conversation with us, bring solutions forward. That is what she is not doing."
This Saturday is the National Day for Truth and Reconcilation in Canada and this tack by the PCs is an affront to Indigenous peoples in the province and everywhere in the country.
I have included the United Church statement in a previous blog but here is the link, again, for any of you who missed it: https://united-church.ca/news/united-church-calls-manitoba-search-landfill
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