Aurora heritage committee wants 'atrocities' on vulnerable former Pine Ridge residents acknowledged

'How would we feel if Auschwitz concentration camp was preserved only for its architecture?': Community Living CEO

Yorkregion.com
April 12, 2021
Lisa Queen

Aurora may acknowledge the “atrocities” committed on vulnerable victims in the former Pine Ridge Centre for men and boys with developmental disabilities, after all.

Residents Len Bulmer and Kathy Kantel convinced the town’s heritage advisory committee April 5 to recommend having the full “shameful” past of the institution on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Bloomington Road included in a bylaw that placed a heritage designation on the building.

The designation passed a couple of years ago does not mention the abuse committed inside the century-old building.

The committee will also recommend the town consult with the province about erecting a plaque or monument recognizing the survivors on the site.

In addition, the committee will suggest the town consider other ways of acknowledging the abuse.

Bulmer and Kantel offered a few suggestions, such as working with survivors and advocacy groups on a display in the entryway of the town hall, having the historical society arrange for speakers on the issue and incorporating a meaningful recognition of victims during National AccessAbility Week from May 31 to June 4.

“We have survivors of this institution living right here still in this community,” Bulmer said.

“They are among the most vulnerable among us. Not acknowledging what happened to them erases their experience.”

Committee member, Neil Asselin, is disappointed the committee wasn’t provided with the building’s use as Pine Ridge from 1950 into the 1980s when it considered the heritage designation.

While he would still likely have supported the designation, the entire history of the building must be acknowledged, he said.

“I don’t believe in revisionism, I don’t believe in running from the truth and I don’t believe our history is clean, not only here but many other aspects,” he said.

As the committee reviews the entire list of heritage properties in town, Asselin called for all relevant information to be included.

Chris Beesley is CEO of Community Living Ontario, which helps people with intellectual disabilities live and experience inclusion in their communities.

If Pine Ridge is to retain its heritage designation, it should be on the basis of what happened to people there, not because of the building itself, he said,

“People were warehoused there and were treated as less than human. Many were physically and mentally abused because they were not seen or valued by the rest of us. They were forgotten,” he said.

“It is, therefore, our duty to remember our past. Otherwise, we are doomed to repeat it.”

Education about and commemoration of Pine Ridge’s abuse survivors is crucial, Beesley said.

“How would we feel if the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp was preserved only for its architecture?” he said, adding his organization is completing a project called Truths of Institutionalization, Past and Present aimed at Grade 10 students.

“Most people I know who have an intellectual or developmental disability would like to see all the former institutions torn down, regardless of how old they are. So, how about asking the survivors of the Pine Ridge Centre what they’d like to see happen to it? Shouldn’t they have a say?”