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Funeral Professionals Speak Out Following Misconduct in Winnipeg
Kyle Larkin, FSAC Media Relations • Sep 09, 2019
(Winnipeg, Manitoba) – The elected President of a national association who represent funeral professionals from across Canada is speaking out following the tragic circumstances that led to the cancellation of Chad Wheeler’s funeral director’s license. The license was cancelled by the Funeral Board of Manitoba on January 29th, 2019 after the board found that Wheeler had broken several laws and regulations.
“Funeral directors and funeral establishments are regulated across Canada to ensure that our profession continues to provide exceptional and respectful services to families during their time of need.” stated Brett Watson, President of the Funeral Service Association of Canada (FSAC). “The situation that took place earlier this year and in 2018 with Wheeler Funeral Home, Cemetery and Crematorium is unfortunate and we strongly condemn all the pain and frustration they put families through.
Funeral directors, and other funeral professionals, are regulated throughout Canada to ensure that situations like the one in Winnipeg do not happen. Regulatory authorities issue licenses to individuals after they have successfully gone through rigorous checks. For example, Wheeler continued to sell prearranged funeral services after March 2016, despite his license lapsing allowing him to sell such services.
“Funeral professionals across Canada take great care to support grieving families in organizing end of life arrangements for their loved ones. We pride ourselves on being a regulated profession across Canada that ensures that all of our services, from handling remains with dignity, to helping to create trust accounts for families, are legitimate and transparent. Canadians trust us to help them during their time of need, and we will continue to do so.” concluded Watson.
The Funeral Service Association of Canada (FSAC) is a national association that represents funeral professionals who are regulated by bodies throughout Canada.
FSAC has received a letter from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, confirming that frontline essential workers are recommend to be vaccinated in the 2nd round of vaccinations. Read the full letter below.
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Information on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) / Mise à jour : Informations sur maladie à coronavirus
Information on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
FSAC Receives Acknowledgement of Priority Consideration for Vaccine
December 3 rd , 2020 Dr. Matthew Tunis Executive Secretary, National Advisory Committee on Immunization 130 Colonnade Road Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9 Dear Dr. Tunis, Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, deathcare workers in Canada have worked alongside frontline healthcare workers to ensure that the deceased from the virus are safely dealt with. We have appreciated Health Canada’s and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s support with the provinces to ensure that our sector is supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE) and through other means. However, as news emerges of potential vaccines on the horizon, I am writing you regarding the priority sequence for vaccination. While we encourage frontline healthcare workers who deal with COVID-19 patients on a daily basis to be at the top of the list for vaccinations, we believe because of the risk that our sector takes on that deathcare workers should have priority over the general public. When an individual passes away from COVID-19, the responsibility falls to deathcare workers to ensure that the body is properly dealt with in a safe manner in order to not spread the disease further. Our workers attend the facilities in which the death occurred and interact with staff that have been directly exposed to the virus, which represents an increased risk to the individual. While deathcare workers have been specifically trained to minimize risk through procedural alterations and use of PPE, this does not remove the potential for infection completely. This is why we believe the federal government must work with its provincial counterparts in ensuring that deathcare workers are included in the list of priority for vaccination. The National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in the U.S. recently released their framework which included deathcare workers in the highest priority phase for vaccine allocation, and we believe Canada should follow suit. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach me at info@fsac.ca . We understand that your office is preoccupied with this situation, and appreciate any time you can give to considering our members. Thank you, Allan Cole President Funeral Service Association of Canada 800-1730 boul. St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, ON K1G 3Y7 613-505-0277 · info@fsac.ca · www.fsac.ca
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