By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

Denzil, Margo, Marilyn, Brenda, Carol, Alan, Donna, Paula, Leon, Edwin, Diane, and Estelle.

These are the names the West Island will remember — 12 children whose lives were cut short on July 13, 1954, when a summer picnic on Île-Bizard turned into one of Montreal’s most devastating tragedies.

Seventy-one years later, families and community members gathered last weekend to honour them. The memorial began inside the Île-Bizard chalet, where relatives and dignitaries — some holding back tears, others holding hands — filled the room. Joan Lee, President of the West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA), welcomed everyone as master of ceremonies. “We will always remember them and say their names,” Lee said, pausing on each one so the silence could settle in. For the families, that silence is familiar. Their loss is never far away.

Montreal poet Svens Telemaque opened the event with a reading. “Words have no value if I can no longer share them with you,” he said, urging everyone present to reach out to their loved ones while they still could.

Early in the ceremony, Kevin Deer, Elder and knowledge keeper from Kahnawake, offered words of wisdom, reminding everyone that life is precious, and so is the land we live on. His message set the tone for the day: remembrance not only of those lost, but of the connection between people, place, and community.

Allison Saunders described how, on that hot July morning, sixty-two children from Little Burgundy’s Negro Community Centre boarded a bus with their counselors, filled with excitement for a summer picnic. The children played in the sand, ate hot dogs and oranges, and lined up for their turn on a small motorboat — a thrill for kids who rarely left the city. For most, it was just another day of summer freedom.

The first two boat trips were uneventful. But on the third, seventeen children and two adults boarded, far exceeding the boat’s proper capacity. The motor flooded, a wave hit, and in a moment that changed Montreal forever, the boat capsized. None of the children wore life jackets. Most couldn’t swim. The chaos that followed was unimaginable — children calling for help, counselors and onlookers scrambling to save whomever they could.

Some were pulled to safety by the boat’s owner and a camp counselor. But the day’s bravest act belonged to David Tagliaferro, just twelve years old at the time. Seeing the disaster unfold, David jumped into a boat and went out to help save two children, risking his own life. Last weekend, Francis Scarpaleggia, Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Lac-Saint-Louis, recognized David’s courage, and the room erupted in heartfelt applause.

The audience included Pointe-Claire Mayor Tim Thomas; Maja Vodanovic, Mayor of Lachine and executive committee member responsible for water; Brigitte Garceau, MNA for Robert-Baldwin; Rita Amira on behalf of Monsef Derraji, MNA for Nelligan; Catherine Clément-Talbot, city councillor for Pierrefonds-Roxboro; Danielle Myrand, city councillor for Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève; Erene Anthony, community advocate; Akilah Newton, founder of Overture with the Arts; Cynthia Waithe, President of Barbados House Montreal; John Westlake, retired SPVM officer; Ken Anabelle, community member; Cindy Finn, Director General of the Lester B. Pearson School Board; and Frank Di Bello, commissioner with the school board.

Île-Bizard Mayor Doug Hurley didn’t just express empathy — he shared his own grief, speaking about losing his grandson to drowning only a few years ago. The pain, he said, does not fade, no matter how much time passes. “Whether it’s three years or seventy-one, it doesn’t matter. You just miss the person.” His raw grief gave weight to every word, connecting him to every family in the room.

Brigitte Garceau reminded the crowd that remembrance is a communal act, and that courage sometimes comes from the most unexpected places — even a twelve-year-old boy rowing into danger. “Life is precious,” she said. “As a community, we mourn together and remember together.”

The gathering was further lifted by song from four generations of family members — DaVonne Parsons, Josette Camara, Gail Millington Grant, and Christina Grant — whose voices carried the weight of memory and the strength of legacy, a powerful reminder that the past lives on through those who remember.

After the words, prayers, and song inside, the crowd made their way out into the sunlight and gathered around the new commemorative bench, donated by Rideau Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home. It faces the water, a quiet spot to sit and remember, and stands as a promise that these children will not be forgotten. n