To show its support to the Saskatoon Police Service following an intensive 93-day landfill search for a missing person, the provincial government has announced that it will put $1 million toward investigation costs.

Then 22-year-old Mackenzie Trottier was reported missing in December of 2020. After nearly four years and $1.54 million in expenses, police determined that Trottier was killed by a man and taken to the Saskatoon Landfill. Searchers finished recovering her remains on August 1st.

Police Chief Cam McBride says in the latter stages of the search, he reached out to the province asking for financial support with the task, as the process was only expected to cost $300,000.

“One of the most significant costs was human resources costs. This was not budgeted for, and we do run lean both in terms of budget and in staffing. We didn’t have the luxury of extra staff.”

He says he asked for volunteers to offer their time, for which they were compensated for afterwards.

Other expenses included the excavation of roughly 5000 tonnes of garbage, large equipment rentals, and personal protective equipment.

McBride says the funding will be crucial, as the expense was impossible to budget for.

“Significant, unanticipated expenditures within our organization require difficult decisions to be made, and we certainly began making some of those decisions. We were looking at how we might change the allocation of funds to meet the needs that were developing around us.”

McBride says despite the cost, the police service would most definitely conduct a search of this magnitude again if they had adequate information.