Joliette, 5 Avril 2011

Government of Quebec Jean-Marc Fournier Justice Ministry Public Prosecutor Louis-Philippe Pigeon Building 1200,route de l'glise Qubec (Qubec) G1V 4M1 Socit des Alcools du Qubec Succ Radisson 7550, Sherbrooke Est Montral, (Qubec) H1N IE8

Re: Desecration of the Human Remains of Duplessis Orphans

Sir, My reason for writing to the Justice Ministry of Quebec is that the Commission for Victims of Crimes against Humanity and the Children of the Great Darkness Committee (Comit Les Enfants de la Grande Noirceur) in the Duplessis Orphans case want to know what happen to the bones found on a piece of land belonging originally to the Catholic Orders Sisters of Providence of Montreal who sold a piece of land from the St-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital grounds named The Pig Sty Cemetery intentionally in order to erase it's memory. It is there that until 1958, more than 2,000 inmates of St-Jean-de-Dieu were buried, among whom were Duplessis Orphans to the Quebec Liquor Board for the sum of $4.9 million dollars sold these lots in 1974 and 1979. In 1976 the hospital changed its name to Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital. No inscription recalls this forgotten past. The sales certificate, which does not mention the former cemetery, releases the Sisters from all guarantee or responsibility concerning the state, the composition and the degree of compaction of the soil and sub-soil. In the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital archives, the cemetery records are empty - no photo, no document. And the hospital's death registry is confidential, indicates director Denise Champagne. The only memories would be the 'private archives' of the sisters, access to which is denied to us 'for the moment.' An inquiry was made by the Journal de Montral starting May 11, 1999, the paper recovered traces of the cemetery, open in 1877, on different maps from the turn of the century. On them, one sees the location of the vault and the cemetery measuring 100 feet by 100 feet and enlarged in 1904. The sick and the Sisters employees had dubbed it 'the pig sty cemetery' as it was situated near their Hog farm. At Montreal City Hall and in the National archives, maps, and aerial photos

confirm its presence until the end of the 1950's. In 1958, the cemetery was closed indefinitely after 81 years of operation. The sisters already affirmed having exhumed all the bodies in 1967, but the discovery of skeletal remains was noted in the 1970's. It is the police service of the sisters which investigated the deaths which occurred at the asylum. The Ministry of Citizens Relations of Quebec, in charge of the direction of the civil state, refuses to make public the registry of deaths and burials of the former Saint-Jean-de-Dieu parish. This is personal information protected by law, explained Guylaine Sirois, invoking articles of the new civil Code. Now no annual report remains regarding the administration of the Sisters of Providence's Hospital between 1935 and 1953.

Curious Causes of Death

From 1955 to 1958, one notes the deaths of 17 persons less than 20 years old. From 1956 to 1958, 15 deaths were classified as 'accidents and suicides' and tens of others tied to surgical interventions, But the statistics are established according to the diagnosis of the 'sickness' of the patient, and not according to the cause of death. As if, for example, 'mental deficiency' could be in and of itself a cause of mortality. Certificates and autopsy reports, which are not public, were established by the hospital physicians, whose diagnosis of the orphans were placed in doubt. At that time, only the hospital police service, set up by the sisters, was authorized to investigate on the property which constituted a distinct municipality of Montreal.

Several victims of bad treatment buried without inquest?

The records of various organizations contain ultra-secrets documents. Information is found here about mysterious deaths of children mistreated by educators and overly severe guardians, traces of blows and wounds which overly curious investigators might see and other truths of the same kind. This is the terrible conclusion reached in May 1964, in the review Cit Libre, by the late wife of former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, Mme Alice Poznanska, one of the first along with journalist Grard Pelletier, to denounce the 'unacceptable' treatment of orphans and illegitimate children. Thirty five years later, in spite of supporting testimonies which arise from time to time. A few weeks ago, when the polemic about the Duplessis orphans was rekindled, witnesses from that time contacted us to remind us of the existence of the SaintJean-de-Dieu cemetery of the sick. To believe them, several victims of mistreatment were interred without inquiry or other form of reporting. In a society that refuses to listen to the account of survivors, they hope that at least the dead will get their attention.

Not So Simple
But as Le Journal's inquiry showed, things are far from being so simple. Yet today, the State and the Church block access to documents which would allow light to be shined on the events. On one hand, the names of more than 2,000 persons have been scratched out of the big book of History. As if they had never existed. On the other, the orphans are refused all public inquiry on the pretext of not reopening old wounds. Those who prefer not to know can sleep peacefully. All evidence indicates that the dead will not speak.

No Decent Burial for the Abandoned Children

The remains were transferred to the Cemetery of the East for 18 cents a cadaver No one knows where the Duplessis orphans and other sick from Saint-Jean-deDieu today rest - and with no epitaph - in Saint-Franois-dAssise Cemetery, formerly known as Cemetery of the East. Here again, access to the documents is refused to us. In 1966, the Sisters of Providence obtained a permit to exhume the bodies from the former cemetery of the sick of Saint-Jeande-Dieu from the courts The Archbishop's office and the Ministry of Health also were in agreement. According to Saint-FranoisdAssise Cemetery director, M Franois Lefebvre, 2,168 corpses were transferred to his cemetery in 1967 for the sum of $390, equalling $0.18 a cadaver. On 15 September 1975, two or three boxes without a bill were even accepted. After consulting with their lawyers, the cemetery which is administered by the local parish and the Montreal Archbishop's office refused us access to all documents invoking the protection of personal information. The names of the deceased, dates of birth and death information normally found on tombstones seem to have become secrets of the State in the case of the orphans. As one might suspect, Le Journal was unable to obtain consent either from the deceased or their families, since we are talking about orphans or abandoned persons.

Common Grave
Saint-Franois-dAssise Cemetery affirmed to us that the remains were 'probably' buried in a common grave with those of 'Old Cemetery' of Longue-Pointe closed in 1917. But for the sons and daughters of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, not the slightest inscription. To the contrary, the Sisters use for their own, one of the most beautiful spots in the cemetery. On the stone are engraved the names of all the deceased sisters since 1873, from mother superiors to the most humble nuns. In 1981, the congregation transferred there the remains of 2,645 nuns buried earlier in the cemetery reserved for the nuns of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, to the South of rue Notre-

Dame. Since then, around 1,800 other deceased sisters have joined them. Unlike the cemetery of the sick, the sisters kept the property of their particular cemetery which is today encircled by land own by the port of Montreal. For members of their community, the Sisters of Providence use one of the most beautiful settings of Saint-Franois-dAssise Cemetery. They had the name engraved of each of their dearly departed for more than a century. Tuesday, 11 May 1999

SAQ employees discover skeletal fragments

Employees working for contractors with the Quebec Liquor Board (SAQ), owner of the land of the former Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Cemetery, affirm having discovered human bone fragments during a recent excavation. But SAQ stresses that it is a question of 'a single bone, too big to be human.' By the end of the afternoon, SAQ again stated it never had found any remains on the property. But faced with the facts, the company modified its version. Four different sources, working for the enterprises whom SAQ made sign a 'confidentiality clause,' first told us about the discovery 'of human bone fragments' during recent enlargement work on the parking area for the distribution center of SAQ, to the East of the city.

Femurs, tibias, kneecaps, hipbones and sacrums

We are talking about bones of various dimensions resembling 'femurs, tibias, kneecaps, hipbones and sacrums' which were given to those in charge of SAQ. SAQ acknowledges having found one bone, but claims that it was a question of an animal bone. It was said to have been found at the other extremity of the property, on the site of former buildings of the Sisters of Providence farm.

No analysis
Yesterday evening, spokesman Michle Perron conceded that its technicians and engineers had no particular expertise in forensic medicine: 'We didn't keep the bone and it was not analyzed.' SAQ does not have the intention of proceeding with an in-depth analysis of the soil of its property.

No report
Neither did the proximity of the former cemetery incite SAQ to report the event to the Montreal

metropolitan police. 'When we bought the land, we knew that there had been a cemetery at that spot,' declared Mme Perron. 'But the waiver furnished by the nuns assured us that all the bodies had been removed during an exhumation in 1967.' In 1974 and 1979, SAQ tried to acquire some of this land for $4.9 million. In the contract, the sisters were careful to decline all responsibility regarding the subsoil.

A public inquiry is demanded

While the Sisters of Providence took refuge in silence yesterday, a variety of voices were raised to demand the holding of a public inquiry. Yesterday, the Sisters of Providence community refused to broadcast the slightest comment. Superior Clare Houle, asked Le Journal to stop trying to communicate with her. The Duplessis orphans deemed that the latest revelations strengthened the need for a public inquiry. The lack of respect that was shown to dead orphans says a lot to us about the respect shown them while they were alive.

Camouflaged Truth
That was also the opinion of the mental health alternative resources group: The Bouchard government is irresponsible in trying to camouflage the truth and buy silence, declared president Colette Rondeau. The Association of intervention groups in defense of mental health rights wishes on their part that light is cast on the scandal. Refusing to open the books can no longer be allowed, declared the president of the rights and liberties League, Mme Lucie Lemonde. That pertains to the people's right to know their history so as to not repeat the errors of the past.

Perreault Impassive
In Quebec, the Minister for Citizens Relations, M Robert Perreault, reiterated the refusal of the government to institute a public inquiry. Wednesday, 12 May 1999

6 boxes for more than 2,000 corpses

During the exhumation of bodies of sick and 'Duplessis orphans' who died in Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, the Sisters of Providence are satisfied regarding six boxes supposedly containing the remains of more than 2,000 departed. In 1975, at the time of the construction of the Liquor Board warehouse, the work was interrupted by the discovery of bone fragments. Surprise was general. Had not the Archbishop's office attested that all the remains were transported to the Cemetery of the East in 1967? By virtue of cost overruns, the contractor, Fitzpatrick Construction, sued the project administrator, Iberville Development, and blamed SAQ and the former owners, the Sisters of Providence. It was the transcription of their testimonies heard 20 years ago in Superior Court which brought new light on the subject today. Hired by the Sisters, Concrete Construction superintendent Yvon Geoffrion, affirms having only removed 'six boxes of bone fragments' (of 24 to 28 inches by six feet) during the exhumation in 1967. Cemetery of the East director, Guy Marcotte, also confirms only having six boxes in his records. Called as an expert witness, Inspector Paul Landry, exhumation permits from the City of Montreal, stresses that it would have taken 'a minimum of 150 boxes' to hold the remains of 2,168 corpses. The general foreman of SAQ, Roland Tremblay, and Soil Inspector technician, douard Maholy, then testify that the cemetery recovered in 1975 measured 320 feet by 120 feet and not 210 feet by 110 feet, as the Sisters' documents indicated. According to Tremblay, the bodies were piled 'one on top of the other.'

24 Plastic Bags
A day worker, Jeffrey Arsenault, explained that he had then worked for 'a week and a half' picking up 'about 16 bodies.' He placed them in '24 plastic bags' of the kind used 'for garbage' before giving them to the Sisters. Some were buried in the earth, others were on the surface. In her testimony, sister Marie-Paule Levaque prefers to speak of 'scattered bone fragments' which would not justify, according to her, a new exhumation. I was so under the impression that all had been dug up. I did not expect that there would be much left. She also declares not remembering the exact placement of the cemetery, if it wasn't that it was 'more to the South.'

SAQ denies the discovery of bone fragments

Yesterday, SAQ denied the allegations of certain construction employees regarding the recent discovery of bone fragments. We are in litigation before the tribunal with the contractor in charge of excavation, declared communications director Philippe Chtillon. If the employees find bones, we would like them to stand up and report to us what they claim to have found. Thursday, 13 May 1999

Le Journal discovers a burial registry for Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Cemetery

Finally in the boxes of records placed in the archives of the Montreal Palace of Justice is where Le Journal found a single public copy of the registry. The document reveals that at least 49 young persons were buried in this institution's cemetery between 1933 and 1958. At least 49 children, an exclusive document obtained by Le Journal de Montral confirms. Among them, 22 children were buried at a very young age, often unnamed. Others, 27 to be exact, died between the age of three and 21, age of legal majority of the time.

Refused Access
Since the beginning of our inquiry, all the governmental and religious authorities have refused us access to the documents of that era. But Le Journal finally found a list which includes the names of these children who were buried during those 25 years in the cemetery, which was closed in 1958. It is not the original, but the 'Extract of the burial registry of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu' which the Sisters of Providence placed in deposition on 20 July 1966 before judge J. Brandon O'Connor of Quebec Superior Court to obtain an exhumation permit.

One Single Copy

The judgment to which this document is attached is not categorized. It is arranged with a mass of other juridical decisions (guardianship, trusteeship, wills, etc.) for the year 1966, in the Prearchival Center of the Montreal Palace of Justice. It is the only copy which will henceforth be accessible to the public. It contains the list of 2,168 persons buried, young and less young. In memory of these departed persons, and of whom practically every trace of their earthly sojourn has been erased, Le Journal publishes here the list of children buried at Saint-Jean-de-Dieu.

Families
Family members, even distant ones, former inmates and employees of the hospital will perhaps find here the memory of dear ones that they wish to recover or simply of persons that they had known.

IN MEMORIAM
List of minors (under age 21) buried in Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Asylum Cemetery 19331958
Date First Name Surname Age 04/26/33 Anonymous child - (a few hours) 02/17/35 Anonymous child - 03/29/35 Marie May Saint-Laurent 17 years 05/07/35 Marie-Jeanne Bisson 14 years 11/23/35 - Pugliesse 1 day 02/04/36 Joseph Paul Adlard - 2 days 11/07/36 Marie Cronier (while being born) 11/18/36 Anonymous child - 2 days 01/21/37 Joseph Monette 1 day 05/09/37 Maria Kaziniera Tayer 1 day 05/26/37 Marie Germaine Thrse Isabelle 1 year and 8 months 08/22/37 Marcel Dufour 8 years 12/05/38 Ren Sauriol 17 years 12/18/38 Andr Pich 7 years 01/06/39 Gatan Lapointe 9 years 02/25/39 Child of Unknown parents 0 years 04/15/39 Marie Rosline Lonard 3 years 07/27/39 Florence Smith 19 years 12/26/39 Joseph Richard Caddington 1 year and 9 months 08/14/40 Jean Paul Godmaire 3 years 12/14/40 Anonymous male child - 0 years 08/17/41 Jean-Louis Francoeur 13 years 10/17/41 Stillborn child - 12/20/41 Lucien Couture 3 years 01/20/42 Dieudonn Parent 15 years 03/07/42 Stillborn child - 05/30/42 Thrse Caron 15 years 05/31/44 Anonymous child - 06/01/46 Pricille Vallires 20 years 08/11/46 Thrse Rancourt 17 years 05/27/47 Huguette Latour 7 years 10/24/47 Child of Eva Brire and Daniel Forgues 5 days 11/12/47 Simone Racette 18 years 03/28/49 Jacques Millette 16 years 04/18/49 Georgette Fontaine 6 years 06/03/49 Yvon Mader 9 years 07/17/50 Yvon Aub 10 years

02/07/51 07/05/51 07/09/51 06/04/52 07/07/52 03/11/53 12/17/53 07/15/54 11/26/54 04/30/57 04/24/58 10/04/58

Jean Nol LaLonde 7 years Stillborn male child Bilodeau Antoine Lamarche 9 years Wilfrid Blair 13 years Female infant Allard 0 years Lise Fitzgerald 11 years Serge Potvin 9 years Lon Jean Fugre Marie Barbeau 8 hours Stillborn male child - Royal Fournier 19 years Anonymous male child - 4 days

Source: Extract from Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital burial registry, Quebec Superior Court, 1966 - Monday, 17 May 1999 Le Journal de Montral then questioned Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte: The Archbishop's office in Montreal still is unable to explain the circumstances in which the church authorities authorized in 1967 the exhumation of bodies from Saint-Jean-de-Dieu cemetery, an incomplete undertaking that was necessary to redo in 1975 after the discovery of human bone fragments. Ten days after a demand written by Le Journal, the spokesperson for Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Mme Lucie Martineau, affirmed yesterday that 'it's not the Archbishop's office' that authorized the exhumation of bodies held by the Sisters of Providence. 'We have found nothing in our records,' she assured. 'But the Vicar General Mgr Beaupr, continues his research. You must understand that our archives are not computerized.' In their request in Superior Court for permission to exhume the bodies, lawyers for the Sisters of Providence said in 1966 that they had 'received the permission from the Chancellor of the Archdiocese required by law.' This 'authorization permit' sought today by the Archbishop's office was submitted in support of their request on 10 June 1966. The ongoing research will perhaps confirm whether the Archbishop's office took steps to guarantee the success of the operation, so that every person buried, including orphans and baptized believers according to roman catholic rites, rests in blessed earth after being transferred to the Cemetery of the East. Wednesday, 26 May 1999 In this article, note that if the Vicar General Mgr Beaupr continues his research, why does the spokesman for the cardinal affirm that the Archbishop's office was not the one who authorized theexhumation of the bodies? Of course, broadcasting the idea that research is in process can gain a lot of time. The Church never came up with any serious statements as a follow-up on this

subject. After this, Laurent Soumis wrote another very pertinent article for the case. Based on exclusive documents, this article hit the front page of Le Journal de Montral on Monday 21 June 1999: Sold to Medical Schools A practice still going on in the 1960's. A truly by-gone era. Things have changed greatly since the days when corpses of 'Duplessis orphans' and other sick were shunted off without ceremony to medical schools in Quebec. Section 9 of the law for the protection of public health determine the rules, explains Dr. Jean Bergeron, who is currently in charge of the study of anatomy for the province of Quebec.

Three major changes

First major difference: The person in charge is obliged to obtain the consent of the family, or at the very least await the results of police research to find them. Thus, before the person in charge may offer an unclaimed cadaver to the universities, 'the next of kin must declare in writing that they do not intend to claim it, or they offer no interest in it for at least 24 hours after being notified of the death or could not be found within 24 hours following the research report done by the police.' Second difference: the one in charge of anatomy no longer has any pecuniary interest in the number of cadavers made available. Only 'transportation costs are paid by the institution.' Finally, 'no burial or cremation may be undertaken without prior authorization by the coroner.'

A Report to the Minister

Once a year, the one in charge sends to the Minister of Health a registry with the date, the place, the municipality where the death took place, the name, age and address of the departed, the institution of learning to which it was offered or transported and, if necessary, the place where buried. Thus, it is possible to determine with the person's remains rest in a common grave or on land owned by the concerned hospital or university institution. In 1997, 100 bodies were given to institutions of learning: in 21 cases, they were unclaimed bodies, in 79 others, they were voluntary gifts. Half the corpses went to McGill University, the rest went to Laval University, UQTR, the University of Sherbrooke or to Rosemont College. In each case, it was someone under 41 years old. The institutions also rejected

272 corpses, most of the time because they were newborns who died a few hours after birth or because it was impossible to transport them within 48 hours of death. Former Quebec Public Trustee M Rmi Lussier confirmed to Le Journal de Montral that the transfer of unclaimed bodies to the universities from Quebec psychiatric hospitals continued until the end of the 1960's. When I came into office in 1968, this practice still existed, states M Lussier, now retired. Even in the case of inept persons placed in institutions, the hospitals and universities had no permission to ask the Public Trust to take the bodies. Those called the Duplessis orphans were not treated in a particular way, he stressed. But considered mentally ill, they shared the same fate as others who were placed in institutions or under a trustee. In each of their records, there was only one kind of certificate we were aware of nothing At that time no one had to have any consent for giving care for those under trusteeship, he recalls, imagine the case for taking bodies. In any case, the powers of trusteeship were limited to when the person was alive.

The Duplessis Law

It was the Maurice Duplessis government which had the 1945 law founding a public trusteeship adopted. That law only applied to unauthorized mentally ill patients who were placed in closed care in psychiatric hospitals, stated Me Nicole Forget in a work that appeared in 1995 on 50 years of the Trust. The regime granted to the Trustee powers regarding the effects and the person who was categorized in Quebec as incapable, for a time or forever, of administering their own effects. In the area of her research, Me Forget states never having discovered a document that casts light on how the public Trustee would know if he had or had not fulfilled his responsibilities regarding orphans interned in psychiatric institutions.

Personal Effects Were Taken Care of, Not Persons

It is known, however, that until 1971, the Trustee only was interested in administering personal effects. And as the orphans had nothing to show, it is very likely that the Trustee never worried about them. One thing for sure, under the urging of M Rmi Lussier the law was modified at the beginning of the 1970's so that the Trustee would be in charge of the person and not only his effects. Orphans used as flesh to dissect in our universities an unknown number of 'Duplessis orphans' who died in institutions during the 1940's and 50's

ended up on dissection tables at medical schools reveal documents that have come to light by Le Journal de Montral. With the help of archivists at the University of Montreal, Le Journal has recovered exchanges of correspondence between hospitals, universities and the Quebec government which confirm beyond a shadow of doubt the existence of such a practice. Whence the difficulties some families are still having in recovering the exact place of burial of their dearly departed and the eerie silence that still surrounds the 'forgotten' cemetery of the former Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Asylum today. Wrongly considered as 'mentally ill,' the orphans suffered the same fate as was reserved at that time for prisoners and persons without family. By virtue of the Quebec law on anatomical study adopted in 1942, all 'public institutions receiving a provincial government subsidy' must turn over to an 'inspector of anatomy,' named by Quebec, the unclaimed cadavers of their patients. This law aimed at putting an end to the profanation of cemeteries and the trafficking of cadavers which brought in up to $50 apiece for the traffickers.

Without Family
Within 24 hours of death, if no relative 'up to the level of first cousin' claims the cadaver, it is then systematically made available 'to the universities and schools of medicine, in turn and in proportion to the number of students registered in the rolls of each institution.' In the case of orphans, of whom the religious communities often changed the names and erased all trace of biological kin, the probability that the family would show up was pretty much zero. Hospitals were thus obligated to turn over their cadavers or receive a $50 fine, including those 'brought to a cemetery' but 'not yet buried.'

Paid Per Unit

The inspector had a direct interest in the volume of corpses furnished to medical schools who paid him: 'a sum of $10 for each cadaver delivered, over and above the transport and burial costs. The inspector must guarantee that after the dissection, the remains of each corpse be removed and buried decently in a cemetery of the religious belief of the deceased.' Same thing for the extra cadavers not needed by the medical schools.

In each hospital, the medical superintendent could not require an autopsy if that would ruin the corpse 'for anatomical study and for surgery.' Whence likely the reason few autopsies were done at that time in the institutions. The inspector wrote in the civil registry 'a death certificate' which had 'the same effect' as 'the burial certificate' and which served in its place.

A Well-Guarded Secret
A half century later, the use of 'Duplessis orphans' corpses for research and teaching purposes still remains one of the best kept secrets in the history of Quebec, indicates Le Journal's inquiry. By virtue of the Quebec law, 'anatomy inspectors', hospitals and medical schools must keep a registry of persons whose corpse has been dissected. But in the National Archives, in the Ministry of Health and Social Services and at the University of Montreal, no trace of these registries has been found, it seems, all mysteriously disappeared. As for McGill University, they state having these registries in hand, but refuse to make them public for confidentiality reasons. Le Journal would never have found the proof of the existence of these practices were it not for a silly dispute of receipts which left traces in the general archives of the University of Montreal.

Unpaid Civil Servant

In 1942, after the death of Dr J.A. Rouleau, anatomy inspector, his son, Paul-., took over as interim inspector for three months, show the documents. But lo and behold, without anyone being officially named by the Quebec government, no one wanted to pay the bill for $260 that he claimed for delivery to the University of Montreal. Correspondence on this issue confirms that the former Saint-Jean-deDieu Asylum regularly furnished bodies to the university. This institution, owned in Montreal by the Sisters of Providence, housed numerous orphans. Other hospitals also acted as providers for the University of Montreal: Sacr-coeur, Notre-Dame, Htel-Dieu, Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, General Hospital, Women's Aid Hospitals, Montreal Prison Hospital, Protestant Hospital of Verdun, Grace Dart Home et Old Peoples Home.

La Presse
Here is an article from La Presse newspaper connected with the orphans' cause:

Duplessis orphans request the exhumation of many bodies

Duplessis orphans request the exhumation of tens of bodies. The Duplessis orphans saga continues with their decision to request the exhumation of orphans buried in an abandoned cemetery which belonged formerly to Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital. The orphans want thus to show that tens of their own were victims of medical experimentation in this hospital, today known as Louis-H.-LaFontaine. Three years ago, the Duplessis orphans committee obtained the sum of $25 million dollars from the Quebec government. This payoff, which was intended to be final was only for those who had become psychiatric patients. A spokesman for the group of orphans, Rod Vienneau, stated yesterday that the orphans still request that Quebec recognizes its wrongs in this history and remove once and for all the labeling of mentally ill. M Vienneau does not understand why the courts have always refused to hear the cause defended by the orphans. In order to show they are right, they request that the remains of their former companions be exhumed and that pathologists examine them. They stress that they were mutilated for medical experimentation purposes. Today, a SAQ warehouse is located where the cemetery was before being closed in 1958. The orphans deem that the exhumations would prove beyond all doubt that lobotomies were done on the brains of children. If that should be the case, the orphans intend to sue the government, the doctors and the religious communities responsible for this. According to M Vienneau, numerous orphans were buried without gravestone, identification or religious ceremony. In 1942, a provincial law gave the nuns the right to sell unclaimed corpses to medical schools for the sum of $10 each in order to advance science. The orphans suspect that numerous children, whose identities have been destroyed, were dissected before being interred in the cemetery located near the hospital. They say that some 2,000 among them would have been buried in that place. Moreover, the orphans affirm that many among them were subjected to medical experiments even while they were alive. Montreal criminal investigator Daniel Lighter, who represents the orphans, stated yesterday that he was on the case because the possibility of criminal leads going back ten years or so, when the police inquest was undertaken. No accusation was brought, however, at that time, the crown having decided that there was no matter to pursue. M Lighter is giving himself two months to study the case history before giving his recommendations to his clients. The attorney explained that he must find direct proof and important criminal acts

in order to obtain an exhumation order from the court. Raymond Gervais in La Presse, 19 June 2004 (section A-5) Mister Fournier, you are the new appointed Minister of Justice of Quebec, I am not a lawyer, but I believe by law that the government of Quebec has an important obligation to produce records and documents pertaining to cadavers like the 2,168 bodies that were found on the Quebec Liquor Board land parking lot in the east end of Montreal. We now know that the Religious Orders lied when saying that all the orphans bones were transferred to the East End Cemetery, the only bones that were transferred to the East End Cemetery were the 2 or 3 thousands Religious Orders bones. We need to know what happened to the bones that were found at Quebec Liquor Board built on the Old Cemetery piece of land of SaintJean-de-Dieu Hospital baptized The Pig Sty Cemetery by the Duplessis Orphans. Some were put in garbage bags without any respect. Where are these bones? Others were put into boxes. Where are these bones? DNA and forensic science must be brought in to verify each skeletal cadavers, also to try and make identification, some people may still be alive still searching for their child who disappeared, who had their identity falsified by Religious Orders for greed. Also, in order that we can give the Duplessis orphans who were falsely labeled mentally retarded at the Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Hospital a decent burial. Mister Fournier, when reading the list of names of disappeared Duplessis orphans included in this letter the name Royal Fournier 04-24-1958, 19 years old, this young boy could be one of your own relatives without your knowledge ? Isn't it time for the truth? The Quebec Liquor Board also lied stating that the bones found were of animals, then their PR spokesperson stated When we bought the land, we knew that there had been a cemetery at that spot. Declared Mme Perron How come the Quebec Liquor Board did not notify the Police concerning the findings of bones? Don't you think the police should have been the first to be notified? The Sisters of Providence stated publically that they transferred all the bones to the East End Cemetery, if this is the case, why would the Sisters in the sale contract declined all responsibility regarding the sub-

soil? Mister Fournier, we know that it is the government before yours who we consider corrupted, conspiracy of silence, lies, hid the truth from the public, obstruction of justice etc. Today, your government could change this in order that the Duplessis orphans get closure in their case. We have a right to know, where are the bones that were found on the Quebec Liquor Board land? Will you be the person who will erase the false mentally retarded label that the victims still carry on their shoulders which has not yet been erased from their medical files? This has not yet been repaired, isn't it time for the truth? Isn't it time to take the straitjacket off the Duplessis Orphans back and give them back their Freedom? Sincerely, Rod Vienneau (CVCCH) Commission for Victims of Crimes against Humanity The Children of the Great Darkness Committee Author of book: Collusion: The Dark History of the Duplessis Orphans [Les Enfants de la Grande Noirceur] 779, Prcieux-Sang Joliette, Qc J6E 2M8 Tel.1-450-756-4253 C.C. Dr. Jonathan Levy PhD Membre du: Barreau Pnal International(The Hague)(La Haye)