The former Royal Victoria Hospital site is one step closer to becoming a McGill University research facility, following hearings last September by the L’Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM)
In its lengthy report, the office makes 31 recommendations addressing some of the concerns brought forward by various groups.
“There’s a recommendation that we keep a lot of public spaces in this site,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, saying that is very important for her.
They also noted that the possible presence of Indigenous graves be “treated with deference.”
A group called the Mohwak Mothers, however, who raised concerns about the possibility of graves of Indigenous children on the site, is not satisfied.
The group believes the bodies may be linked to controversial psychological experiments conducted there in the ’50s and ’60s that received funding from the Canadian government and the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Montreal mayor Valerie Plante agrees that any graves found on the site must be treated with respect.
“We need to make sure,” she stressed. “If there’s any doubts, if we think that there maybe potentially graves there, we need to do it right.”
The Mohawk Mothers say they feel insulted that the OCPM gave the the project the green light and that they and the community should be consulted more before any work is done.
Last March, the group filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court to stop the work on the site.
“We’re going to court next Monday to set the schedule for it and we will challenge everything,” Kahentinetha said.
They said they vow to keep fighting.
Comments