Would you like your parents to be buried in an abandoned place? Would you like to be buried in an abandoned place? Is the memory of your parents important to you? Even if you are one of those people who rarely visits the graves of their parents (these places are not very pleasant, except for joggers and other marmots), these questions probably concern you.
Know that at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, the largest in Canada, located in the heart of the island of Montreal, there is practically no maintenance, and has been for a long time. The tall grass hides the inscriptions of the monuments. It feels like an abandoned area. You have to see it to believe it.
Last month, kneeling on the grave of my parents, equipped with my shears, I first cut the grass, then passed the mechanical mower and finally weeded around the flowers, which could no longer be seen at the foot of the monument. Is it normal to have to act like this? How many people can do it? There were a few of us there. Nearby, an old lady, visibly distressed by the state of a relative’s grave (her husband, perhaps?), greeted me before leaving. I will be going back there soon.
The strategy of the administration of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, until recently, was simple. Few people visit the graves of their parents, and the people buried being, literally and figuratively, a (very) captive clientele, we let the few wolves howl, thinking that they would end up getting tired. Especially since, the cemetery being a private place, the general public and the governments would not be interested in it, one can presume.
But last year, many of us ran into the closed entrance to the cemetery on Mother’s Day. Complaints, publicized, finally convinced the administration to open the doors on Sunday. A hard battle for a gratuitous gesture. The article by journalist Zacharie Goudreault published on July 20 in The duty finally brought the administration of the cemetery out of its silence.
We learn that families are considering moving the graves of their loved ones to another cemetery and that the administration is overwhelmed by complaints. Jean-Charles Boily, CEO of the Fabrique of Notre-Dame parish in Montreal, provides, in his letter published the next day, still in The duty (online), explanations worthy of a fairy tale for idiots.
We already knew about the cemetery’s financial and labor relations problems. I invite anyone who wants to relax in the wilderness and have a good laugh to go to the cemetery, The duty in hand, to read Mr. Boily’s text. Now he tells us that the abandonment of cemetery maintenance is the result of a green plan to promote ecology, that it works and that it has the support of its customers!
It was enough to think about it! Any organization worth its salt would have replaced this “administration” and found dignified and workable solutions to these long-standing problems.