Indigenous leaders say a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of women can be done safely and must go ahead. Activists blockade the main road into the Brady Road landfill, just outside of Winnipeg on Monday, July 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
WINNIPEG – A blockade is down at a Winnipeg landfill where demonstrators have been demanding the search of a different landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women.
Workers with front-end loaders and other machinery, along with police, arrived at the landfill this morning to begin taking apart the blockade.
A Manitoba judge granted a temporary injunction Friday to end the blockade at the Brady Road landfill after the City of Winnipeg argued in court it was causing environmental and safety risks.
Dozens of protesters have blocked the landfill’s main road for nearly two weeks, after Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said the province would not search the privately-owned Prairie Green Landfill, north of the city, for the remains of the two slain Indigenous women.
The judge had said demonstrators could continue to protest at the Brady Road landfill, but they could not block the road.
The Manitoba and federal governments have been sparring over the issue with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller criticizing the province for shirking its responsibilities, while Stefanson has accused Miller of politicizing a tragedy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.
