'I’ve never seen the site so badly kept': Cemetery workers say staff cuts behind unkempt state
Fallen tombstones lie on the ground at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, many covered with overgrown grass -- and even garbage.
Ezra Mackay, a mechanic at the cemetery, says the administration is telling clients it's the workers' fault.
“They were told by the office," he said
Last year, the cemetery cut 23 jobs, all of which were related to site maintenance.
Patrick Chartrand, a groundskeeper, says the union has been fighting ever since to have them rehired.
“I’ve never seen the site so badly kept since [the] 28 years that I’ve been working here," he said.
Cemetery staff took CTV News on a tour of the grounds, pointing out conditions they deem unacceptable, including buildings held up with wooden poles and garbage bins overflowing from visitors who have had to clean up their own loved ones' graves.
Staff also pointed to hundreds of groundhog holes marked with sticks.
“Groundhogs have always been here, but normally we have enough people that we can take care of the problem," said Mackay.
When the pandemic hit, the cemetery cut its hours of operation, including keeping the gates locked on Sundays.
After a year of complaints and demonstrations by grieving families, the cemetery is now open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. -- but no new staff have been hired.
Chartrand says the cemetery's solution isn't acceptable.
“They put us everywhere so we’re late on many jobs. They move us around which is not allowed with our contract, but they do it.”
Staff have been out of a contract for nearly two years.
CTV has put in several requests for comment from the cemetery over the past two months, but all have gone unanswered.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.