Gates of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery remain closed, families left unable to grieve loved ones

The gates at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal are still locked. Hundreds of bodies are in cold storage after months of burial delays due to ongoing strikes, constant closures to the public and a complete lack of maintenance.

For grieving families – they say, it’s a never-ending nightmare.

“It’s inhumane, it’s barbaric, I don’t care who’s fighting, I don’t care who is wanting more money, I don’t care who wants to save money, they don’t have a right to use my mother’s body as a leverage,” said Georgia Bitsanis.

Jimmy Koliakoudakis’s mother died in February and he still doesn’t know when her body will be buried.

“My mom is in the freezer, on Mother’s Day I brought flowers, I walked in and then I just realized where do I leave them, she has no resting place,” he explained.

On Mother’s Day – when the cemetery opened exceptionally for grieving families, he was among the many who came. Some couldn’t access the main gates and squeezed through the fence to get in as long lines of people formed and cars lined up.

“Just open the gates and let me bury my mother, it’s small demand, it’s not a big demand. Let me give my mother the dignity that she deserves and so many other helpless families,” said Koliakoudakis.

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The families say they feel like they’re being held hostage because of the dispute that’s been ongoing since September.

Out of desperation Koliakoudakis even launched an online petition to make burials an essential service

Bitsanis’s mother passed away in January and she’s in the same situation as Koliakoudakis.

My mom doesn’t deserve to be in cold storage until they come to an agreement, she lived here all her life, she worked all her life. She died at 93. Where’s the dignity I have a 93-year-old dad at home who is freaking out because he cannot believe that he cannot bury his wife,” she explained.

Michael Musacchio has been fighting to visit his daughter Vanessa’s grave since the fall of 2021, with the cemetery constantly closed amid the pandemic and then the strike.

“My biggest regret in life is putting my daughter here.”

“This is a pattern, it happened in 2007, it’s happening now. Every time there’s a negotiation they close the cemetery, it’s unacceptable, there’s families that are waiting to bury their loved ones they are moms and dads and daughters and fathers and sisters and they’re in a freezer. Who does that? Where in the world do you say we cannot bury people after a death,” said Musacchio.

The families say elected officials at all levels need to step in.

As many look for closure and to grieve in peace.

“That’s what happened last time in 2007 Jean Charest had to step in and call a truc,” explained Bitsanis

Koliakoudakis adding “Maybe arbitration maybe at a certain point someone needs to get involved and say you know enough is enough.”