Search dogs find signs of human remains on site of Montreal's old Royal Victoria Hospital

Cadaver dogs have identified possible evidence of human remains on the grounds of Montreal's old Royal Victoria Hospital, a sprawling network of now-vacant buildings, some dating back 140 years, on Mount Royal's southern flank.

The search was conducted as part of an agreement between the Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera, a group known in English as the Mohawk Mothers, and McGill University, to determine if there are unmarked graves in an area the university intends to redevelop, turning the heritage site into a modern academic centre.

The agreement, which also involves the government of Quebec and the city of Montreal, came after the Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera launched a civil lawsuit in March, seeking to halt the development. They argue there may be unmarked Indigenous graves that risked being excavated at the site, as well as archeological remains from a pre-colonial Iroquoian settlement.

The site also includes the Allan Memorial Institute, where CIA-funded brainwashing experiments were conducted in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Julian Falconer, the lawyer for the special interlocutor appointed to oversee the search, said Thursday that multiple dogs combing the site had indicated the presence of bodies.

"What the findings by the dogs means is that the dogs trained to identify evidence of human remains have identified that evidence," he said. "That doesn't necessarily mean there are bodies there, it means there is evidence of bodies there."

The search dogs' findings were presented to Quebec Superior Court Justice Gregory Moore on Thursday, as the women who launched the civil suit argued McGill wasn't providing sufficient security to the site, given the possible presence of unmarked graves and the fact that the school is restricting access to records. 

Kwetiio, one of the group's members, told the court she was extremely concerned about site security. In recent weeks, cinema trailers were parked in the area, and videos were posted online of people inside the fence, flouting McGill's attempt to protect the site with hired security guards.

"These souls matter," Kwetiio said. "Their lives and their deaths matter. What happens and what we do about it matters."

Doug Mitchell, a lawyer for McGill University, told the court that the university was respecting its end of the agreement — that archives were being turned over, sufficient security was present at the site, and work there had stopped.

Three teams — each consisting of a dog and a handler — surveyed the grounds of the old Royal Victoria in recent weeks. The searches were conducted by the Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue Dog Association.

The dogs have been trained, often in cemeteries, to detect decaying human flesh and bone within a six- to 10-metre radius, according to Karonhianoron, a McGill archaeology student appointed by the Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera to monitor the searches, who was present when the dog search was conducted.

'It felt very surreal'

All three dogs gave a signal when they came near the same stretch of wall near the Hersey Pavilion, which used to be the hospital's nurses residence. 

"It felt very surreal," Karonhianoron said. "For me, it wasn't unexpected, but I guess to have concrete evidence to show to people who maybe don't know the whole story about this place, about the Royal Vic and the Allan, that was very powerful for me to sit with."

Kim Cooper, the team manager at the Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue Dog Association, wrote in a report submitted to the court and obtained by CBC News that she is "confident that the odour of human remains is in this area."

"The proximity of all dogs' indications suggests that, if odour is being blown into the alcove area, it is not being blown in from a significant distance," she wrote. "We can only guess at what 'significant' means in this context, but a reasonable guess would be 10 metres or less."

Falconer said the evidence of human remains found at the site means that agreement now needs updating. It was originally written, he said, as if the possibility of finding remains was remote, even hypothetical.

"I would say the situation has changed, day to night, on that issue," he said. "Not only is there cause for concern; there is a direct concern."