Families of slain First Nations women disappointed by meeting with Anandasangaree

The families of two First Nations women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg landfill say they were left feeling disappointed by a meeting with a Liberal cabinet minister in Ottawa.

The families of two First Nations women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg-area landfill say they were left feeling disappointed by a meeting with a Liberal cabinet minister in Ottawa.

The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are suspected to be in the Prairie Green Landfill, a private facility north of Winnipeg, and families have been calling for provincial and federal leaders to fund a search.

Their families, who travelled to Ottawa from Manitoba, say they expected Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree to tell them the federal government would fund the search when they met with him Monday.

Daughter Cambria Harris instead called the meeting a retraumatizing experience, and said the federal government has not yet promised to help.

"It was clear today -- the precedent was set -- that reconciliation is dead," she said.

Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran and two others -- Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found in a different landfill last year, and an unidentified woman Indigenous leaders are calling Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

Families, supporters and organizations including Amnesty International Canada marked Monday as an International Day of Action to Search the Landfills, in an effort to pressure governments to do more. Rallies were scheduled to take place in at least 17 cities, including Winnipeg.