The families and loved ones who walked among the tombstones on Monday, many of them wielding gardening tools as well as flowers, spoke of the importance of cemeteries as a vital piece of public life, an innate part of the grieving process. They said the opening was like a reunion with lost loved ones not just with their grave.
The families who waited months for a labour dispute to be resolved before burying their loved ones say they feel a sense of relief, but the strangeness of grieving a relative's death for a second time
The cleanup has now begun at Canada's largest cemetery after a strike, according to La Fabrique, the non-profit organization in charge of managing the site. It says it plans to resume burials in the coming weeks, and fully reopen the cemetery to the public in early September.
Maintenance workers at the cemetery, Canada's largest, who had been on strike since January, returned to work Monday after reaching a deal with their employer.