SAQ says no human remains found on site where it wants to expand distribution centre
The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) will go ahead with the planned expansion of its distribution centre after it says no human remains were found on the site. But one group says further investigation is needed.
Two groups, the Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera, an Indigenous group known as the Mohawk Mothers, and the Committee of Duplessis Orphans Victims of Abuse, had called for an archaeological search of the site because part of the land was once a cemetery for a nearby asylum.
In a statement Thursday, the SAQ said the search did turn up bones, but they were all animal bones and a team of experts had concluded that the area where the SAQ plans to build had been used for agricultural purposes.
The Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera released a duelling statement on Friday, saying the Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves (CAAWGUG) has since recommended historic human remains detection dogs search the site before work continues.
"In light of the CAAWGUG's recommendations and given our agreement with the SAQ, we expect that there will be further discussions before the continuation of the development as was announced earlier in its press release," the group said.
The Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital was one of the institutions where orphans and aboriginal children were housed. (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)
The Kanien'keha:ka Kahnistensera also said nearly half of the bones recovered on the site have not yet been identified as either human or animal.
The group said it has so far had a respectful relationship with the SAQ but emphasized the need for the search dogs to examine the site.
The SAQ statement, by comparison, appeared to indicate that the provincial Crown corporation believed the issue was resolved. The SAQ said it hired the archaeological firm Arkéos to conduct the search and that it was done according to an established protocol set by the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
Observers from both Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera and the Committee of Duplessis Orphans Victims of Abuse were present during the archaeological excavations, according to the SAQ.
In another statement sent Friday, the SAQ said work would continue and indicated there would be no further search for human remains on the site.
"The SAQ accepts the conclusions and recommendations of these experts, who confirmed that there are no issues at stake in the resumption of SAQ activities on this portion of the property," the statement said.
The land was once used by the Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital, an asylum where the Quebec government institutionalized children declared mentally ill in the 1940s and '50s.
Many Indigenous children stayed in Quebec hospitals without being sent back to their families.
Part of the land owned by the SAQ was once used as a cemetery for the asylum. The graveyard was closed in 1958, according to an article in the Journal de Montréal. At the time, journalists looked into the likelihood that several victims of abuse had been buried without investigation.
As a result, the cemetery was exhumed in the late 1960s.
The Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera say there could still be bodies on the site.
The SAQ announced in January 2021 that it was planning a $48.5-million expansion of its Montreal distribution centre. The warehouse is located in the island's east end, on des Futailles Street.
Despite their investigation turning up no human remains, the SAQ said it would place a plaque at the distribution centre acknowledging the area's "painful history."
