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Atikamekw baby to be reburied in home community more than 70 years after death
Atikamekw baby to be reburied in home community
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
More than 70 years after his death, an Atikamekw baby buried far from his family in Quebec City will be laid to rest in his home community.
After 12 years of searching, the family of Maxime Ottawa has located his burial site, exhumed his remains and confirmed his identity, bringing what relatives describe as "immense relief."
"On Oct. 26, 2026, Baby Maxime will finally come home to Manawan, to his mother and father, to his brothers and sisters," his niece, Manon Ottawa, said Thursday at a news conference in Montreal.
Maxime was the brother of her father, Henri Ottawa, whose wish to find out what happened to the child prompted her to begin searching in 2014.
Manawan is an Atikamekw community located about 250 kilometres north of Montreal.
In 1954, when Maxime was just six months old, he was taken from Manawan to La Tuque, Que., for medical treatment without his parents.
He was later transferred to Quebec City without his family being informed. He died on Oct. 5, 1954, after 43 days in the hospital, without his loved ones having the chance to see him one last time.
His parents only learned of his death two years later, and were unable to hold a funeral or bury him according to their traditions and beliefs.
"In 2014, four years after the death of my father Henri, I began searching, according to his wishes, to find my uncle," Ottawa told reporters.
"I wanted to understand what had happened to him … I wanted to know the truth."
The family's search eventually led them to Saint-Charles Cemetery in Quebec City, where Maxime had been buried.
In October 2025, Quebec Superior Court authorized the exhumation of his remains so that forensic testing could confirm his identity and, if successful, allow him to be reburied in Manawan.
The exhumation proved particularly complex.
Cemetery records indicate Maxime was buried in a plot containing five people, while the two neighbouring plots contained four and five people, respectively, all of them Indigenous.
One body was eventually exhumed and transferred to Quebec's forensic laboratory for identification testing.
Nearly a year later, on Sept. 30, Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the family received confirmation that the remains belonged to Maxime Ottawa.
"Receiving this confirmation precisely on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation gave it an even deeper meaning in our story," Manon Ottawa said.
She added that reconciliation goes beyond words and requires seeking truth and respecting the dignity of families.
Maxime's story is one of several involving Indigenous children who disappeared or died after being sent to Quebec hospitals decades ago, leaving families searching for answers.
In 2020, Indigenous leaders called for separate legislation to help families access medical records and religious archives to learn what happened to their children. The province passed a law the following year allowing families to access certain records held by health institutions, government bodies and religious organizations.
Maxime's remains are expected to return to Manawan on Monday, ahead of a reburial ceremony on Wednesday that will honour his memory and the traditions of his community.
In a statement Thursday, the family thanked those who helped bring Maxime home after decades of uncertainty.
"While their search for truth is coming to an end, the journey toward possible reconciliation can now begin," the family said in a statement issued through their lawyer, Olivia Malenfant.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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How AI allegations led Quebec author from prestigious awards to losing his publisher
Timeline of AI allegations around Thélyson Orélien
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Francois Couture (Mandatory Credit)
A few weeks ago, Haitian-born Quebec author Thélyson Orélien was collecting award nominations as his book topped bestseller lists. Then, allegations that he used artificial intelligence to write his debut novel, “C’était ça ou mourir” (“It was either that or dying”), started cropping up.
On Wednesday, his Quebec publisher announced it was cutting ties with the author after it found evidence it says indicates he used artificial intelligence to write his book.
Here is a timeline of the rise of Orélien’s book and the mounting accusations that followed.
2017: Orélien said he began writing his book in 2017 in Laval, north of Montreal.
The book follows a Haitian man forced to flee his country and make a perilous journey through the Americas to Quebec. The story is based on Orélien's own experience leaving Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, the author has said.
2019: Orélien said he finished the first draft of more than 300 pages, two years later.
Sept. 12, 2025: Les Éditions du Boréal said it received the manuscript of “C’était ça ou mourir." The publisher later said it couldn't verify the allegations about the book's writing process before that date.
March 9, 2026: “C’était ça ou mourir” is published in Quebec. It was published in France a few weeks later and set to be translated into over 20 languages, according to French publisher Éditions Grasset.
Sept. 2: “C’était ça ou mourir” is among 16 nominees for the Prix Goncourt, one of France’s most prestigious literary awards.
Sept. 21: Grasset announces the author has won France’s Prix du Roman Fnac, a literary award chosen by a jury of 400 booksellers and 400 readers.
That same day, the X account “Balance ton Claude” alleges that, according to Pangram software, excerpts of Orélien’s novel had been written “almost entirely by artificial intelligence.”
Sept. 22: Orélien denies AI use in a joint press release with his Quebec publisher. The author says his writing style comes from Haiti's literary tradition, “where poetry, images, repetitions and rhythm carry a living speech."
The publisher defends Orélien and denounces statements that “directly damage the author’s reputation.”
Sept. 23: Separate plagiarism allegations emerge as media outlet La Presse publishes an article outlining passages in articles attributed to Orélien and published in Quebec and French media between 2012 and 2014 that were near-identical to previously-published work by other authors.
Sept. 24: Boréal says it is concerned about the plagiarism allegations and suspends promotional activities surrounding Orélien’s novel, citing the author’s well-being. The publisher says it is working with the author to compile a detailed record of his writing process.
The Salon du livre de l’Estrie, a book fair in Sherbrooke, Que., announces it is removing Orélien as a guest of honour after learning of the plagiarism allegations.
That same day, French literary online magazine ActuaLitté publishes an article about a 2023 text on Orélien’s blog which included a sentence that looks like an AI prompt.
Sept. 25: The Académie Goncourt removes “C’était ça ou mourir” from consideration for the Prix Goncourt. The academy cites analyses it considered credible and the separate plagiarism allegations involving Orélien’s previous work.
Orélien declines to respond to the new allegations or provide further comment. “I can’t talk about it. I want to focus on my physical and mental health,” he says in a WhatsApp message to The Canadian Press.
Oct. 13: In a statement, Orélien admits that he plagiarized some of his earlier work and apologizes for making what he described as unacceptable mistakes in his youth. “Admiration does not give you the right to take, to claim as your own texts that are not yours,” he writes.
However, he denies using AI to write his debut novel, saying no sentence was generated by a machine. He adds that he used AI tools for research, for instance to look up foreign-language expressions.
“What I am going through is cruel,” he writes. “By attributing a text, one that is mine...to a machine, they have not only called into question my status as a writer but also my humanity.”
Oct. 14: Boréal condemned Orélien’s plagiarism but said it stood by the author amid the AI allegations and would keep the book on shelves. It said it had no evidence beyond the author’s word to determine how the novel was written.
“The publisher’s role is not to demand proof from authors, but to stand by them, and that is what we are doing,” the publishing house said.
Oct. 17: Boréal confirms Orélien has dropped his efforts to compile evidence he did not use AI to write his novel. “That decision is his to make, and we accept it, although we certainly would have preferred to be able to provide definitive answers to the allegations of AI use against him,” co-director Renaud Roussel wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
At the time, Roussel said the publisher’s position on the affair had not changed. A new printing was expected the following week.
Oct. 21: Boréal announces it cut ties with Orélien. The publishing house says it found evidence, through an analysis of some documents' metadata, that Orélien used AI to write his book.
The publisher said it will not reprint the book or publish more books by Orélien.
“We still do not know to what extent AI was used in the creation of ‘C’était ça ou mourir,’ and we will likely never have a definitive answer,” it wrote.
— With files from Charlotte Glorieux
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
By Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Former Alberta cabinet minister says Smith can't survive UCP crisis after referendum
Smith can't survive Alberta referendum: Guthrie
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.
A former Alberta cabinet minister says Premier Danielle Smith won't survive the crisis in her United Conservative Party amid fallout from the separation referendum.
Peter Guthrie, who was removed from the UCP caucus after criticizing the government over a health-care procurement scandal, now leads the upstart Progressive Tory Party of Alberta.
He says Monday's referendum angered both federalists and separatists and leaves Smith with more enemies than supporters.
About 75 per cent of voters cast ballots to keep Alberta in Canada and not to have a second, binding referendum on leaving the country.
Smith's office says Guthrie is out of touch with Albertans and peddling misinformation.
On Wednesday, the premier said anyone running for or speaking for her UCP must accept its pro-Canada stance.
She said separatists intent on turning the party into a vehicle for independence should join a different party, warning internal division could cost the UCP next year's election.
By Lisa Johnson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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