Beds and Landfills
Before the world moves on from this story, I'd like to pause here for a moment and reflect on the story of the recovered bodies of the women lost in Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill. The news has moved on, but the underligning issues remain and have not moved on.
The most incredible days of my life have always included my family. When both of our sons were born, the world around me transformed. At least how I saw the world.
I had empathy for others before they were born, but suddenly, as a father, the joy, pain, surprise, anger, and overall mysteries of the world intensified for me. Almost immediately after becoming a new dad, I felt an emotional weight that I hadn't felt previously, any time I read about the loss of a child.
In recent days, reading about families in Manitoba grieving the loss of their loved ones buried in a landfill touched me on a deep level. I read this article while on my bus ride to work last week. My bus ride takes me along a route where the impacts of systemic racism against Indigenous people are clearly visible.
I cannot begin to imagine the pain and anguish of a parent with a missing child.
My kids are my treasure. I would be forever broken if my treasure were gone and buried among the refuse of society.
The wounds of my spirit would only be deepened by the voices from Canadians bemoaning the costs associated with locating someone that I deeply love because they’re worth it.
The words of Ashlee Christine Shingoose's father that morning brought it all home for me: "Life is precious. I'd like to have my daughter back home and buried in a proper place, not in a landfill."
I am relieved and encouraged that the province of Manitoba paid the price and did the work to bring home those murdered, missing Indigenous women. I see righteousness in that decision.
I'm reminded of when Jesus confronted judgmental religious people of his day. They were upset with how much time he spent with people who needed help. His response to their judgment revealed his radical pursuit of peace. The religious leaders did not appreciate his sense of economics then, and many of us certainly don't today.
4 "What if one of you had one hundred sheep and you lost one of them? Would you not leave the ninety-nine in the country and go back and look for the one which was lost until you find it? 5 When you find it, you are happy as you carry it back on your shoulders. 6 Then you would go to your house and call your friends and neighbors. You would say to them, 'Be happy with me because I have found my sheep that was lost.'
-Luke 15:4-6
The Good Shepherd leaves ninety-nine to find one. It is an action that defies convention and points to a completely different point of view that prizes the life and wellbeing of those left on the outside of comfort.
The bodies of the victims have been removed from the landfill and returned to their communities. The wrong done to these women is a documented reality, but the decision to return and find them is a redemptive thread woven into this story's fabric.
I am grateful today that this is not my life. My family is safe, provided for, and sleeps well at night. That's all I want as a husband and dad—rest for my family. But I want this for every parent. Everyone should know that their children, young or grown up, sleep in a warm bed when the day is over.
I will always vote for a Canada that stops to right wrongs and does the hard work of reconciliation with the Indigenous people of this beautiful land. This work is costly, but it must be done.