Maybe Children's Graves will stop expansion at the Montreal SAQ distribution center

The SAQ halted expansion work at its Montreal distribution center this week after two groups said the site may contain unmarked graves of children.

The Kanien'keha:ka Kahnistensera, also known as the Mohawk Mothers, and the Orphans Victims of Abuse Committee are requesting an archeological dig. They say it may contain the remains of local and non-local children.

“That's the way it should be, the right thing to do and the right thing to do is to do a proper investigation and respect these people,” said Quetio, a member of Mohawk Mothers.

“If there are all the powers that be cooperating and conducting this investigation as best practice, then that's what we want, then we can monitor things and if things are found, we can make our appropriate protocols.”

The site in question, on rue Futaille in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, was used as the unofficial cemetery of the Asylum Saint-Jean-de-Dieu in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Anthropologist Philippe Blouin said: “At first they were the Duplessis orphans who visited the site, who regularly visit the site because they remember that it was an unofficial cemetery and that at one time more than 2,000 people were buried there.” Interpreter for Mohawk Mothers.

The two groups sent a letter on Jan. 8 to the SAQ, the provincial Crown corporation responsible for selling alcohol in Quebec.

The SAQ told CityNews that it had decided not to excavate after receiving the letter and that it would draw up an “action plan”.

“Part of our land used to be a cemetery for the former Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital, which is located nearby,” the SAQ wrote in a statement. “Official exhumations were carried out here in the late 1960s, before it became the property of the SAQ.

“One thing is clear: we want to do everything right.”

The former cemetery is called the “pig sty” because it was also a pig sty at the time.

Many human remains were exhumed in the 1960s, but are still believed to be unmarked graves, particularly those of the Duplessis orphans and indigenous children. The Duplessis orphans were several thousand children wrongly certified as mentally ill by the Quebec government in the 1940s and 50s and placed in psychiatric institutions. They were also abused in some orphanages run by the church.

“We found evidence of several local residents at the Saint-Jean-de-Dieu hospital and many orphanages,” Blouin said.

“There are children who lived and were buried in disgrace, disrespect, horror, unspeakable things, and these children must be given peace,” Quetiyo added.

SAQ announced in February 2021 that it plans to expand its current Montreal distribution center with a new 200,000-square-foot facility. The project has since been scaled back to 110,000 square feet.

“The expansion is for wine, beer and spirits, which require a large warehouse,” said Kahentineta of Mohawk Mothers.

“So it's very painful to know that they're going to make the earth like this.”