Vigil held in Vancouver in solidarity with MMIWG2S families in Winnipeg over alleged serial killer

People in Vancouver gathered at a rally and candlelight vigil on Sunday in solidarity with the loved ones and communities affected by the four women killed by an alleged serial killer in Winnipeg.

"We want families to feel loved, supported, [and] seen," organizer Jerilyn Webster said.

Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe (Buffalo Woman), are believed to have been killed by 35-year-old Jeremy Skibicki.

He was charged with first-degree murder in relation to Contois's death on May 18. Three additional first-degree murder charges were brought against him Dec. 1 in Winnipeg.

In Vancouver, about two dozen people gathered at Grandview Park in the city's Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood to demand more action from Winnipeg police.

"Currently, all levels of government and all policing have not … achieved the 231 calls to action from the [Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls] report," Webster said.

In Winnipeg, protestors — including one of Harris's daughters — blocked the entrance to the Brady Road Landfill on Sunday, calling for a search for other MMIWG2S.

The partial remains of Contois, 24, were recovered there in June.

The remains of Harris and Myran are believed to be in the Prairie Green Landfill, a privately owned facility north of Winnipeg.

Police say the location of the remains of a fourth victim, Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe (Buffalo Woman), are still unknown. 

A speaker at the Vancouver rally recalled how communities in B.C. had support from across the country during the search efforts of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton's farm.

They said that kind of support was needed now to bring justice to the four slain women in Winnipeg.

"Indigenous women matter," Webster said. "Here on the West Coast, we have similarities of how MMIWG families are treated in the process of creating justice."

Pickton, a pig farmer in Port Coquitlam, B.C., was charged with killing 26 women, but convicted of six counts of second-degree murder.

He was suspected of targeting sex workers and other vulnerable women on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Many of his victims were Indigenous women.

Winnipeg police have not committed to searching the landfill for the remains of Harris and Myran, but operations at Prairie Green Landfill have been temporarily paused.

The chair of the Winnipeg Police Board said police are trying to find a way to make a search happen, for "humanitarian" purposes, and not to collect evidence for the trial.