A necessary search winds down
It was the right thing to do. It was always the right thing to do. And most Manitobans knew it.
Early this week, Premier Wab Kinew visited the Prairie Green landfill to mark the end of the search for human remains at the site. He was joined by family members of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, by supporters, and by people involved in the search for a ceremony and smudging.
The search was not completely a success — the family of Myran had hoped the search would find a larger part of her remains than were located, and wanted the search to include a larger area — but there is at least the consolation that Myran was found.
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Prairie Green Landfill in the RM of Rosser, Man.
Watching the conclusion of this part of the search for the remains of victims of Jeremy Skibicki — a further search continues at the Brady landfill for Ashlee Shingoose — brings home how important the search was in the first place, and how dispiriting it was that the PC government of the day not only wouldn't launch a search, but actively campaigned on the decision not to search.
There have been plenty of apologies and admissions that the decision was a poor one since then: the Progressive Conservatives have apologized, the Winnipeg Police Service has said it regrets its decision to say that a search was not necessary, and the list goes on.
But what's surprising is that anyone ever thought the matter was up for political debate, that anyone felt that the potential cost of the search was a legitimate reason to say that two women should have their final resting place be a landfill.
Consider this.
George Mallory and Andrew (Sandy) Irvine disappeared while climbing Mount Everest in June of 1924, and there have been questions ever since about whether the pair had made it to the mountain's summit.
Mallory's remains were found in 1999, but nothing was found of Irvine until September, 2024, when a documentary team found a foot inside a boot and sock protruding from a melting glacier. The sock had a label with Irvine's name sewn on it, and the remains are being compared to the DNA of family members for final confirmation.
The film crew that found foot, sock and boot knew how important the discovery was — and not just for understanding more about the Mallory expedition.
'It's the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up,' Jimmy Chin, a National Geographic filmmaker, told National Geographic. 'When someone disappears and there's no evidence of what happened to them, it can be really challenging for families.'
Weekday Evenings
Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening.
Irvine's relative Julie Summers said was 'moved to tears' when she learnt of the boot's existence a report from the PA Media news agency said. 'I have lived with this story since I was a seven-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest.'
It's why we search for the lost. Because it matters.
Because it's important to family members to know what has happened to their relatives, and where those relatives rest. It matters days after someone disappears, and it matters 100 years later, and it continues to matter, no matter how many years pass. All of us should be able to try and put ourselves in others' shoes.
We search for the remains of those lost at sea, lost on land, lost in war and lost in terrorist attacks. Millions of dollars have been spent on all sorts of searches, from hunts for famous explorers and the remains of their expeditions — like those of the Franklin expedition — to searches for individuals who vanish from their vehicles in blizzards, seeking, and failing to find shelter.
Helping find the missing is part of being in the community that we call humanity.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
21 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fifty-nine people moved out of tents and into homes
The province has moved 59 people from encampments to housing as it works on a strategy to find shelter for an estimated 700 Manitobans who live in encampments. 'They're taking pride and flourishing,' Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said Friday of the people who have been housed. 'We want to make sure everyone gets the proper support and they're successful.' Since the government's strategy Your Way Home was announced in January, 53 of the 59 former tent residents have moved into social housing. Six live in private rentals, a spokesman for the minister said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said nicer weather draws more people to tent living, but the province is working with the city, the federal government, community partners and private landlords to 'get people into housing that's a more desirable place for them.' In March, the federal-provincial welfare top-up program to help those living in encampments afford market rents stopped accepting new applications. In May, the province announced 67 new social housing units, all of which are occupied, Smith said Friday. As expected, encampments have expanded during the summer, prompting neighbours and Winnipeg city councillors to express concern about health and safety concerns — for residents in and near the tent villages, and motorists who drive by them. 'This is what happens when you normalize this type of living in tent encampments' said Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links. 'In the past, people seeking resources looked for someone to house them. Now they're told 'come and join us,' she said Friday. 'We've normalized an incredible level of social dysfunction,' Willis said. On Friday, Coun. Ross Eadie, whose Mynarski ward is home to several encampments, released a letter he had written to Smith, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and one of his constituents who's asked officials to address the 'crime' and 'chaos' from encampments. 'Your Way Home has the policy of providing 24/7 support for those getting out of encampments,' Eadie wrote. 'Well, we need 24/7 support for the residents living near encampments.' Smith said nicer weather draws more people to tent living, but the province is working with the city, the federal government, community partners and private landlords to 'get people into housing that's a more desirable place for them.' 'We are doing everything we can to bring as many units online as possible, and we believe the province is also working to bring every possible housing unit online as quickly as they can.'–Jamil Mahmood The head of Main Street Project, which received the only contract from the city to move people from tents to housing, said many more units are needed — and quickly. 'We are doing everything we can to bring as many units online as possible, and we believe the province is also working to bring every possible housing unit online as quickly as they can,' executive director Jamil Mahmood said in a statement Friday. Main Street Project hopes to have another 12 social housing units available in the next two weeks that can house 15 to 20 people from encampments, he said. 'The social housing being brought online has all the supports needed for people to be successful,' Mahmood said. The non-profit organization is concerned about those in private rentals relying on rent top-ups becoming at risk for homelessness again, he said. 'The rent top-up highlights how the private sector cannot fill this gap, and the need for more funded social housing is key to addressing this housing crisis,' Mahmood said. Two years ago while campaigning to become premier, Wab Kinew said it was not 'realistic' to rely on social housing alone to end chronic homelessness — that the province needs to work with the private sector and landlords to move people out of bus shelters and tents into housing. 'The premier was right on the mark,' said Willis with Street Links, which relies on private rental units to move their clients from tents to apartments. Even without the federal-provincial rent subsidy, Street Links has housed 28 people so far this month in private rentals, she said. On Friday, they were in the process of housing a couple — a pregnant woman and her partner — who had been living in a tent in the West End. They had been receiving food and water from outreach workers who suggested they get on the social housing wait list. 'It's more efficient to work with people in a housed situation than an unhoused situation,' said Willis. Low-barrier housing with some stability and security is better than no housing, she said BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES Encampments have expanded during the summer, prompting neighbours and Winnipeg city councillors to express concern about health and safety concerns — for residents in and near the tent villages, and motorists who drive by them. 'You're in a house that has heat, with a toilet and fridge and stove,' she said. 'A terrible place to live is a dirty encampment on the riverbank.' On Thursday, Kinew said that when his government took office, it was constrained by the lack of housing units after the former government sold some of its housing stock. He said they're in the process of building and restoring social housing units and helping those estimated 700 Manitobans move from tents to homes. 'We're working hard,' said Kinew, who credited city and non-profit partners for working together. 'We're all on the same page,' he said. 'It's just going to take years of consistent effort to get to that 700 number. When we first committed to this, we said it would take eight years. We're two years in. If we maintain this pace, I think we'll get to where we need to go,' the premier said. — with files from the Brandon Sun Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Moving homeless from ‘image routes' is just optics
Opinion To be charitable, you might describe it as 'out of sight, out of mind.' Uncharitably, describing it as an attempt to put lipstick on a pig seems more apt. Winnipeg City Coun. Jeff Browaty dressed it up as a safety issue, and it is, but it certainly feels like the safety part is only half — or even less than half — of the story. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS An encampment along the Disraeli Freeway on Tuesday, July 22. Browaty wants ban encampments on Winnipeg's 'image routes.' And the 'image' part of 'image routes' is perhaps a giveaway. 'Along our major thoroughfares, our image routes, it's not just about the visibility of the encampments. There's an esthetic (issue) but, also, it's dangerous. It's dangerous for the people who are living at those encampments. The ones … around the Disraeli (Freeway) are so close to a major thoroughfare (and it) would be dangerous if (people) were to fall into traffic,' Browaty said. The move would add routes — including Disraeli Freeway, Pembina Highway, Portage Avenue, McPhillips Street, Main Street, St. Mary's Road, St. Anne's Road, Kenaston Boulevard and Regent Avenue — to a motion that is being put forward to halt encampments in community gardens, playgrounds, areas with spray pads and pools, community centres and other spaces designed for children and families. It's something that Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham seems willing to get behind: 'When you've got people … camping close to roads, especially major thoroughfares, to me, it's an issue of safety. I think that can be and should be looked at,' he said. It's easy to understand why city councillors might want to make sure that encampments don't mar the esthetics of the city, because that's obviously something that might reflect badly on the City of Winnipeg and, for that matter, on its councillors. But leaning into the safety side of the argument sounds like more than a little bit of a stretch: after all, while it would be dangerous for encampment residents, especially those under the influence of drugs and alcohol, to 'fall into traffic,' it would be every bit as dangerous for others to fall into a river — and there are many, many riverside encampments. Those squatting in abandoned or fire-damaged buildings are equally at risk — as are those buying and using drugs from questionable and dangerous sources. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. Overall, this latest move looks more like addressing the optics of the homeless, rather than actually trying to solve the issue. And more than that — if it were successful, it would simply move a transient population to somewhere else in the city, and make it someone else's problem. It seems reminiscent of moves taken before large events like the Paris Olympics in 2024, when thousands of homeless people were moved from encampments near Olympic sites. The French government called it a security issue with no connection to the Olympics at all — activists described the move as social cleansing. The move of people out of Paris, interestingly, lasted only as long as the Games. It's almost become an Olympic tradition: before the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 202 Tokyo Olympics, there were also large-scale roundups of residents suffering from homelessness, poverty and drug issues. Roundups have also happened prior to large-scale economic forums, political conventions, and even prior to the 2022 Super Bowl. Safety is often cited as a reason for packaging up the homeless and shifting them safely out of sight. But, if the goal is really safety, then a ban has to have a plan. It has to include not only a place for the homeless to go, but a place that is also better organized and measurably safer for its inhabitants — and longer-term than simply through the tourist season, accompanied by a fond hope that no one returns to old haunts. Otherwise? Lipstick.
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Lorne Gunter: Ousted former UCP MLAs need more than infrastructure to create viable party
Progressive Conservatives? Really!? Article content The two former UCP MLAs, Peter Guthrie of Airdrie-Cochrane and Scott Sinclair of Lesser Slave Lake, who were booted from the UCP caucus this spring for speaking out publicly against the government, have announced their desire to join the moribund Alberta Party and transform it into the moribund PC party. Article content Article content Quite apart from the fact the pair can't legally revive the PC name (the UCP owns it), why in heaven's name would they want to be associated with the scandal and corruption that did in the old Alberta Tory party — the princely (and princessly) use of executive aircraft, the Sky Palace, the awarding of contracts to friends of the governing party? Article content Article content Guthrie left the UCP over allegations the Smith government had awarded lucrative health-care contracts to a private company that was chummy with the government. Now, somehow, he thinks he can fight for cleaner government wrapped in the heavily-soiled mantle of the PCs. Article content Elections Alberta is unlikely to give anyone permission to use the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta name and brand. When the PCs and Wildrose merged in July 2017, the new United Conservative Party retained the legal rights to the names and logos of its two 'legacy' parties. Guthrie and Sinclair and their new pals in the Alberta Party can't call themselves the Wildrose party, either — unless they get the permission of the UCP first. Article content That's not gonna happen. Article content Maybe if the pair are committed to resurrecting old political parties from Alberta's past, they should check to see whether anyone is using the Social Credit brand. That would let them wear the natty plaid polyester slacks and floral ties so many Socreds were fond of in the '70s. Article content Article content The United Farmers of Alberta were the provincial government from 1921 to 1935. That's a pretty good run. Article content Of course, if Guthrie and Smith wanted to call themselves the UFA, they would first have to buy the co-op's 110 gas stations, not to mention its fertilizer, fungicide, grain drying and seed operations. The UFA had sales of $2.1 billion last year. I'm sure the price won't be an obstacle. Article content Even the Liberals were Alberta's government for the first decade of the province's existence. And as recently as 1993, they held 32 seats in the legislature. Of course, in the most recent provincial election (2023), the Alberta Liberals could field only 13 candidates and garnered a measly 0.2 per cent of the total vote. Article content But that shouldn't be an impediment to our two intrepid crusaders. They think they can take over the Alberta Party and ride it to victory with a name change. That's because, according to Guthrie, 'The Alberta Party has the infrastructure,' meaning the pre-existing political organization.
