From: paoladipaolo@bell.

net
To: premier@ontario.ca
Subject: Letter to Kathleen Wynne: Re: Huronia Regional
Centre Cemetery
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2015 11:00:14 -0400
Kathleen Wynne, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
(Sent by email to premier@ontario.ca)
Dear Premier Wynne:
Subject: An Open Letter about the Septic System Uncovered at
Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery.
The Huronia Regional Centre (Orillia, Ontario) was a place where
persons with mental and physical disabilities were housed and fed
from 1886 to 2009. It also became a place of horror and indignity
which included cruelty in the form of beatings and rape. Once the
truth became known you, as the Premier of Ontario, publicly
apologized to the survivors. In an unusual case of unanimity, all
three Parties in the Government of Ontario reached a $35 million
settlement in a class-action lawsuit with former residents. Of
course many of those who lived at HRC did not survive, and a
cemetery is the final resting place of nearly 2,000 who died over
the years. The government commissioned an archaeological
company to locate unmarked graves and search records to match a
list of names with their birth and death dates. Some graves are
merely identified with case numbers but most have no grave stones
or markers at all. Many grave stones were removed and some
grave stones were re-used to build a patio at a nearby house! When
found there, they were not put back in their proper places.
The archaeological investigation was extensive and included:
1. Total Station mapping to overlay old sketch maps
2. Ground Penetrating Radar to find unmarked graves
3. Physical stripping of topsoil to establish the perimeter of the
cemetery
Three locations on the map produced through the GPR survey are
simply labelled 'Utilities'. These three 'utilities locations' were
investigated by a group of survivors, relatives of survivors, and
concerned citizens collectively known as Remember Every Name.
Much to the surprise and disbelief of the group these
'utilities' were septic tanks. It appears that during the early 1950's a
septic pipeline had been placed through the cemetery leading to the
tanks equipped with an electric pump to pump the contents to a
septic bed. The pipe is buried approximately four feet in the
ground, well within the depth of all the known burials in the

cemetery. It is curious that the ground penetrating radar survey

has excluded the area where the pipes would be buried.
Research by the Remember Every Name committee indicates that it
is possible that at least 150 graves from the 1930's would have
been disturbed when this pipe was installed - which further raises
the question regarding the fate of the bones. Were they buried back
in the trench, or removed to another location? What is the state of
the graves where the septic pipe still lies? These are among the
questions that Dr. Melbye, who is assisting the Remember Every
Name committee, is determined to answer.
Dr. Jerry Melbye, one of Canada's most prominent Forensic
Anthropologists and Forensic Expert for The National Missing and
Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), a national centralized
repository and resource centre for missing persons and unidentified
decedent records. He has advocated for the nameless for over 30
years, mostly in crime scenes involving human skeletal remains.
He has worked on hundreds of cases in Canada and the U.S. Dr.
Melbye has joined the efforts of the Remember Every Name group
after learning that there are no government plans in place to
determine the location of a great number of the victims buried in
the HRC cemetery. Melbye has made an appeal to Garfield
Dunlop, his local MPP for Simcoe North, and Premier Kathleen
Wynne to allow his crew to investigate the two septic tanks and
pipe system located in the middle of the HRC cemetery for burial
disturbances and human remains. In order for these tanks to have
been installed, burials must have been disinterred in the process.
What happened to these burials? Where are the remains? These
are questions that Melbye feels must be answered before the
settlement between the government and the remaining survivors of
the Huronia Regional Centre and government is finalized. "I feel I
have been called upon to help in any way I can. These victims
deserve respect. It's my job, it's just the right thing to do", says
Melbye.
The victims buried in the HRC cemetery continue to suffer
indignity even in death. Many have no headstone, many were
identified only by a number, many of the burial plots have not been
located, and some head stones were removed at some point in time
and not replaced.
And now they have suffered one of the greatest indignities of all,
these victims are buried among human excrement.
Dr. Melbye and the Remember Every Name committee want to
change that. 'These individuals deserve respect in life, and in
death', says Melbye.
The Remember Every Name committee and Dr Melbye request the
following:
An independent and professional assessment of the septic tanks and
septic pipes in HRC cemetery.
An independent and professional assessment of the state of the

graves that were disturbed by the installation of the above

mentioned pipes.
An independent and professional assessment of what would be
involved in decommissioning the septic system and removing the
pipe that lies across graves.
We also request that Remember Every Name and its supporters be
able to select the independent contractor assigned the above tasks.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Jerry Melbye, PhD, Forensic Anthropologist

Paola Di Paolo, Remember Every Name

Kathleen Wynne, Premier

Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
premier@ontario.ca

July 25, 2015

AN OPEN LETTER TO KATHLEEN WYNNE AND EVERYBODY
Today I would like to talk about Remember Every Name and the graveyard at the old Huronia
Regional Centre in Orillia. I lived there when I was young.
There's people who live in Orillia and other places I think people that have lost their loved ones are
going to try to find them and they need to see them in the proper names. It would be nice if people
who know something would come forward. People of the staff need to come forward.
We have been trying to work with the government and we thought everyone was trying to do
something right for these people who died. I really want to find a way to get this graveyard done
properly: names and the bodies should be where they belong. I want names and deaths and so we
can bring flowers and so everybody can know we have not forgotten about these people.
Why has nobody talked about it or told us what really happened to the missing gravestones
(numbers)? I think people don't want the truth they just want to make excuses. There's gonna be a lot
of people questioning, well why didn't you do this a long time ago? Why would it be allowed to put
pipes through a graveyard? Just because it happened a long time ago doesn't make it ok.
Jerry is an expert and we need someone who really knows what they are doing to help us. He is a
good expert. Remember Every Name need's Jerry and the help of experts who knows exactly where
to look through. I don't know why did they tell us to go ahead and do the fence without no
permission to do the gravestones. I can not trust the company (Timmins-Martelle) who was working
with the government because they don't speak the truth.
It's just upsetting me and other people for their loved ones because its really awful to have no names
and it's just a number. This will be fixed because that is just the right thing to do. And this is what
should be done at Lakeshore Psychiatric Cemetery too (in Toronto at Evans and Horner). What I am
upset about now is the whole area where there is nothing: just blank, no names, nothing. That makes
me mad, sad, upsetting, shaking my head. Why is this? Why people don't care about people who
were labelled, to just dump them? It makes me wonder WHY?
Just when we thought it could not get any worse, we have now figured out that there are pipes there?
Two pipes? Sewage pipes? The water from 65 years could have washed through the dirt and moved

where people are supposed to be. We want to figure out how they got the pipes in the ground? We
need to figure this out? Did they move people? We have the maps but they got really mixed up and
the maps could be wrong. We still don't have the answers yet that we need.
I have a right to know exactly what happened. I want to know and why. There has got to be reason. I
think the reason is that they just don't care. All the way around it feels like something is not right. I
have a bad feeling that something is not right. I know for a fact that something is not right.
I'm hoping that Jerry will find out what the real story is. What's the truth coming out? The truth is
going to come out sooner or later and people need to find out.
Every survivor has a right to know about the graveyard. People all around the world need to listen to
our stories: all us the survivors, listen to us. We know what we are talking about. We survived.
We want to invite you, Kathleen and anybody else, to come to the graveyard and tell us what you
think about it and what you think should be done? Maybe in August or September? Whatever is
available for you. Please let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Cindy Scott,
Remember Every Name
> From: premier@premier.gov.on.ca
> To: paoladipaolo@bell.net
> Subject: An email from the Premier of Ontario
> Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2015 18:49:07 +0000
>
>
> This email account is not monitored. Please do not reply directly to this email.
> For further inquiries, direct your online message
throughhttps://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/en/feedback/default.aspx.
> *********************
>
>
> Thank you for taking the time to send your email regarding the Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery. I
appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.
>
> As your request would best be addressed by my colleague the Honourable David Orazietti, Minister of
Government and Consumer Services, I have forwarded a copy of your correspondence to him. Minister
Orazietti, or a member of his ministry staff, will provide you with a response.
>
> Once again, thank you for writing. Please accept my best wishes.
>
>
> Kathleen Wynne
> Premier of Ontario
>
> c: The Honourable David Orazietti

Minister of Government and Consumer Services

6th Floor, 900 Bay Street (Mowat Block)
Toronto
M7A-1L2
dorazietti.mpp@liberal.ola.org

August 10, 2015

Honourable Minister David Orazietti:
Re: Huronia Regional Centre Cemetery
We appreciate that Premier Kathleen Wynne has asked you to address our questions about the sewage
system that seems to have disturbed graves at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) cemetery in Orillia.
We have questions about the adequacy of a report done by Timmins Martelle Heritage Consulting and
submitted to Infrastructure Ontario (with the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and
Infrastructure) and to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Remember Every Name has been
working with staff in the Ministry of Community and Social Services to properly memorialize those
buried at HRC.
But there are unexplained gaps in the information provided by those Ministries, about what really
happened at the cemetery.
We are depending on your Ministry to take a fresh look - to ensure that the previous efforts are reviewed
transparently, and our questions are answered now.
We appreciate that your Ministry relates to both the Archives of Ontario and the proper maintenance of
cemeteries.
We asked the Premier to ensure:

An independent and professional assessment of the septic tanks and septic pipes in HRC
cemetery.

An independent and professional assessment of the state of the graves that were disturbed by the
installation of the above mentioned pipes.

An independent and professional assessment of what would be involved in decommissioning the

septic system and removing the pipe that lies across graves.

We also requested that Remember Every Name and its supporters be able to select the independent
contractor assigned the above tasks.
Dr Jerry Melbye will volunteer his considerable expertise, and work in full collaboration with that
independent contractor.
Remember Every Name is meeting at the HRC cemetery on Sunday August 16th at 1:30 pm. We would
welcome you and your staff to meet with us there.

Please let us know how you can ensure the investigation that will properly honour the people who were
buried by government here.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Leah Dolmage with Remember Every Name

August 21, 2015

The Honourable David Orazietti,

Minister of Government and Consumer Services
dorazietti.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Dear Sir:
Subject: Removal of septic tanks and pipes at the HRC cemetery

I understand that Premier Kathleen Wynne has asked you to address concerns about the sewage system
that seems to have disturbed graves at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC) cemetery in Orillia.
I am a certified Forensic Anthropologist and Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto, Im a
supporter of the survivors of the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia and am concerned about the state of
the cemetery that house up to 2000 individuals. As a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic
Anthropology and Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, I am highly trained in the
analysis of skeletal, decomposed, mummified, burned, cremated, incomplete, fragmentary, dismembered,
and commingled remains.
There has been a great deal of press of late in regard to the Huronia Regional Centre (Orillia, Ontario) and
the three locations on the GPR survey map produced by the archaeological firm Timmins
Martelle Heritage Consultants (TMHC) that are simply labeled 'Utilities'. During my investigation of
these three 'utility locations' I was horrified to discover that these utilities are septic tanks equipped with
an electric pump to pump the contents to a septic bed that had been installed during the early 1950's.
Attached to the septic tanks are pipes buried approximately four feet in the ground, well within the depth
of all the known burials in the cemetery.

I believe that at least 150 graves from the 1930's would have been disturbed when this pipe was installed which raises questions about the fate of the remains.
My main concern now is to determine the state of the graves along the pipeline running through the
cemetery and in and around the area of the tanks. In order to do this I request the support of your
Ministry to allow me to decommission the septic system and pipes that lie across the graves to expose the
area of concern. I would then conduct a discreet independent and professional assessment of the state of
the graves that were disturbed by the original installation of the above mentioned pipes.
I strongly believe that we all deserve basic human rights in life and in death, and if I can contribute my
expertise to bring some peace to these victims as well as the survivors, then its something I must do. Ive
been an advocate for over 30 years for those individuals who cannot speak for themselves.
The cemetery can then to be reconstructed to show respect for the individuals that are laid to rest there. If
disturbed burials are discovered during the excavation we may never be able to positively identify these
individuals, but we will at least be able to right this terrible wrong and let them rest in peace. They
suffered horribly throughout their lives and now because of the condition of their resting place, continue
to suffer through death.
I request that I be commissioned by your Ministry to correct this situation in the spring of 2016 and show
the survivors that we do care about them and their HRC family by creating a graveyard that truly reflects
respect and dignity.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Kindest Regards,
Dr. Jerry Melbye, D-ABFA, F-AAFS
Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
Research Professor, University of North Texas
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jerrymelbye
Jerry.Melbye@utoronto.ca
From: "Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure"
<Minister.MEDTE@ontario.ca>
Date: 2015-10-09 3:52 PM
Subject: A Message from the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and
Infrastructure
I am in receipt of your email to The Honourable David Orazietti regarding the Huronia
Regional Centre (HRC) Cemetery. I appreciate the time you took to share your concerns,
and am pleased to respond.
Working with the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Infrastructure Ontario (IO) is
investigating this issue by conducting an additional evaluation of the cemetery. Efforts are

underway to determine the path of any pipes (which would have been laid more than 60
years ago).
IO is also undertaking a review of the site plans and burial records to confirm the history of
when the pipe was laid, its depth and intended use, and the timing and location of burials.
External experts have been hired by IO to help complete this evaluation. Timmins Martelle
Heritage Consulting is continuing to conduct a detailed review of the burial records. They
are licensed archaeologists with extensive experience working under the Funeral, Burials
and Cremations Act and with other historic cemeteries. IOs investigation plans do not
involve disturbing any graves.
In addition to researching records, a utility locate company is being openly procured to
further investigate and verify the presence or absence of underground utilities.
Our government is committed to getting answers to the concerns that have been raised with
respect to the HRC Cemetery. Once all examinations have been completed, findings will be
shared with the Ministry of Community and Social Services to determine appropriate
actions to be taken as needed.
I understand that once investigative findings are completed, the Ministry of Community and
Social Services will continue to work with Remember Every Name to determine the best
way forward.
I can assure you that we are committed to maintaining the cemetery in a respectful manner.
Sincerely,
Brad Duguid
Minister
c:

The Honourable David Orazietti, Minister of Government and Consumer Services

The Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services