For more than a year, the ashes of Bridget Heffernan’s brother have remained at home in an urn instead of being buried in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, where members of her family have rested for nearly a century.
With the death of her mother last September, Ms. Heffernan now has two family members to bury.
But several months after the end of a long strike that interrupted activities at one of Canada’s largest cemeteries, Ms. Heffernan still cannot get an answer as to when burials can take place, despite his repeated efforts to contact management.
Although she doesn’t have a major problem with keeping the urns in her home, she looks forward to the moment when her mother and brother can be buried in the family plot, surrounded by some family members and friends. a priest who will be on hand to say a prayer.
“In theory, they should already be buried, back to the earth,” she stressed.
The Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, located in Montreal, was largely closed to the public from mid-January to mid-September last year due to a strike by some of its employees. At one point, more than 300 bodies were awaiting burial.
The cemetery reached an agreement with its maintenance workers in July, then came to an agreement with its office workers in December.
Cemetery management did not respond to requests for comment sent by The Canadian Press, but indicated, in a press release released at the time of the reopening in September, that it hoped to catch up on the backlog in burials by end of 2023.
Several families waiting
Denis Martin, a resident of Oka, mentioned that his mother, Eileen Ashford, died in April 2023 in Vancouver, just before her 100e birthday. For months, he has been trying to ensure that his ashes are buried in the family plot at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, in the presence of his large family which included seven children.
The family had initially hoped to be able to hold the ceremony in April, on the first anniversary of his death, but Mr Martin was informed that delays at the cemetery were too long to choose that date.
In an interview, he admitted that the process had been emotionally difficult for the family, particularly for those who were unable to attend the funeral last year.
“My mother lived a very, very long time,” recalled Mr. Martin, who now hopes to be able to organize the funeral in September.
“I’m 70 years old. It’s rare that you lose your mother at 70 years old. She was a big part of our lives, so all this work to get this last moment was very difficult. »
Appeal on social networks
Ms Heffernan, who first visited the cemetery shortly after her brother’s death in March 2023, said she was very frustrated by the lack of answers and information. While she has received responses to some of her emails, she lamented the fact that she still does not know when the funeral will take place or where her family is on the waiting list.
Frustrated, she cast a line on Facebook to see if anyone else had similar experiences.
Several Internet users responded to his publication by telling their own stories. Some people mentioned that they had been waiting as long as her to get a burial date, if not longer.
Andy Masterson, whose mother died in August, was among the users who shared their frustrations.
In a telephone interview, he said he and his sister had tried to get to the cemetery about ten times, often waiting more than an hour. Although the people he spoke with were kind, he found the whole process frustrating.
Mr Masterson understands the strike has had an impact and burials cannot take place in winter, but he believes the way families are being treated is unacceptable.
“It seems to me that someone could take the initiative to recruit additional staff, to approve overtime, in short, to try to find a way to catch up, given the very, very delicate nature of this what they do,” he said.
For now, her mother’s remains are being held at a funeral home until they can be buried in the plot her family has owned since the 1930s.
Mr. Masterson is primarily hoping to have the date of the funeral, even if it is not until next year. He wishes someone would take responsibility for communicating properly with families.
“People need this moment of mourning and we have to put an end to all of this,” he insisted.
Mr. Martin, on the other hand, received good news. Less than an hour after his interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday, he received notice from the cemetery telling him that his mother’s burial could take place on September 6, one of the dates he had requested.