Mohawk Mothers and Duplessis Orphans group convince SAQ to pause expansion
The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) has paused excavation work for the expansion of an SAQ warehouse on the former cemetery that belonged to the Soeurs de la Providence. The site served as an informal cemetery for unclaimed bodies of patients who died at the Hôpital Saint-Jean de Dieu. Archival documents indicate that Duplessis Orphans and Indigenous children were buried in unmarked graves on the site.
Despite a "massive exhumation" of the cemetery in 1967 and the transport of the bodies to the Cimetière de l’Est, that became the Cimetière St-François d’Assise, further human remains were discovered during the construction of buildings for the SAQ in 1975, revealing that not all the bones had been exhumed in 1967. As reported in a series of articles in Le Journal de Montréal, further expansion work on the SAQ Distribution Centre parking lot in 1999 led to the accidental discovery of more human bones. The SAQ admitted at the time that "its technicians and engineers had no particular expertise in forensic medicine".
On behalf of the Duplessis Orphans and Mohawk communities, the Mohawk Mothers and the Committee of Duplessis Orphans Victims of Abuse called for an archaeological study of the area. See their request to the SAQ, the attorney general of Quebec and the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications here.
The SAQ responded in writing that “At present, certain preparatory work is ongoing, but no excavation work is being carried out in connection with the planned expansion.” See the SAQ response here.
As CBC news has reported, SAQ has stated that the letter from the Mohawk Mothers and the Duplessis Orphans group prompted it to take “the decision not to undertake the excavation work related to the planned expansion, while an action plan is established.”
See below for additional media coverage:
Nathaelle Morisette, “Des sepultures sur un terrain de la SAQ?,” La Presse, 9 February 2024.