Families in 'anguish': Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery reopens after months-long closure
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal reopened Friday for the first time in months.
Families have been unable to visit loved ones since January after a labour dispute forced the cemetery’s closure.
"I suffer, believe me,” said Luigi Decubellis, who visited his wife’s grave at least once a week for the past 16 years. "Not coming to see my wife is killing me."
Families said they have felt like their loved ones have been taken hostage.
"We've always made this a point to come here,” said George Decubellis. “To take a moment to just show our feelings for our mother. My dad's been with my mom 52 years. God bless them, they had a beautiful life, so it's just extremely difficult."
After three months, the cemetery is again open to family members, but only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
That's upsetting to some, like Michael Musacchio, who is desperate to visit his daughter Vanessa's grave but can’t because he works during opening hours.
"It's unfair. We've entrusted our families to their care. It's supposed to be a place to go to find some peace and find serenity and it's caused more anguish than anything else," he said.
Though it’s open, many families were met Friday with unplowed roads and walkways.
Cemetery staff are on strike and say if management gets its way, the situation will only get worse.
"They just want to cut everywhere. On the salary for sure, but on the number of people,” said Eric Dufault, president of the cemetery workers’ union. “If we accept this, it's going to be the beginning of the end. The cemetery will be abandoned, like a forest."
High snow meant Luigi was unable to reach his wife's grave. He has surgery next week and doesn't know the next time he'll be able to visit.
"I don't know if I'm coming back after the operation, am I no longer going to see my wife? I'm going crazy. I'm sorry, but I'm going crazy."
Workers have been without a contract now for more than four years.
Management did not return request for comment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.