Harold Dougall, a survivor of Orillia's Huronia Regional Centre, discusses deinstitutionalisation and the future of the HRC Cemetery. The "big square thing" refers to a number of markers set in a concrete pad. These were removed from their original place in the cemetery and used to pave pathways on the institution grounds. Edmonton, mentioned at 3:34, refers to the Michener Centre in Red Deer, Alberta. Michener is one of the last institutions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities still operating in Canada. Fore more information on Remember Every Name, contact us at remembereveryname@gmail.com or visit our Facebook group. A transcript of this video is available below.

Narration:

Huronia Regional Centre was an institution for people deemed to be intellectually and developmentally disabled that opened in 1876 as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots. By the time it closed in 2009 thousands of people had lived and died in Huronia. Residents endured atrocious living conditions and were used as forced labour in the operation of the institution. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse were impossible to escape. A cemetery on the former grounds contains an estimated 2,000 or more burials.

Harold:

All these numbers from all through there, numbers, not names. This is what I wanted to talk about, uh, interview me on this graveyard, cemetery and I want everybody to get this organized. Fences around it, brand new fences, finding the names, everybody that’s here, new gates on that place, change the word on the plaque up there and they did it. The big square thing sitting in front of the gate, they changed the name, I think, on that too. It’s a long time coming. We are the ones…going to be changing it, the whole system. The graveyard and the people…been in institutions. All the institutions are closed, except Edmonton, they wanted to keep it open and we’re fighting for that to close. They don’t know how, people think, “oh, they wanna, it’s a nice place”. It’s not. I was on the task force, closing all the institutions... Close it, get the people out of there. It’s too much misery, so I hope they listen to this and tell them, close the institutions down.

Narration:

Less than 600 of those interred at the cemetery have a named marker. More than 300 are buried with only a number to mark their resting place. The rest lay in unmarked graves. Want to get involved or find out more? If you are searching for a deceased relative, have any information about the HRC Cemetery, or are a survivor looking to connect, please contact us at remembereveryname@gmail.com or find us on Facebook.