In 2021, two trailblazers, George Westwood and Matthew Pierce, introduced a groundbreaking solution in deathcare services for the remote archipelago of Haida Gwaii, located west of Prince Rupert. Most residents used to have to spend a significant amount of money (about $10,000 for essential funeral services to and from the island, enduring a long journey to Terrace (approximately 10 hours), and dealing with a sporadic ferry service.
"Since Haida Gwaii has always had a small population, it has never been big enough to warrant a funeral home," said Pierce.
Westwood had been volunteering to provide funeral services to Haida Gwaii for 33 years, working tirelessly with the coroner's service and by himself to support grieving families.
Despite his dedication, Consumer Protection BC halted his operations in 2015 because he lacked formal schooling and licensing, which put him at risk of imprisonment.
What ensued was a five-year legislative battle. Heated discussions took place in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and advocacy from then-North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice resulted in an amendment to the Cremation, Interment, and Funeral Services Regulation, which took effect on June 14, 2019. This change, outlined in , allows two individuals to apply for a funeral director licensing exemption in one designated remote service area.
"It took a lot more than five years, and a lot of grief and suffering in between," said Westwood. "It's a case of having two ways to do it, a right way and a right way, and nothing else is acceptable when it comes to dying. It's an absolute that has to be dealt with there and then, it's not, 'should we, could we, will we?', It is no, you do."
Since 2021, both Pierce and Westwood have been using their unique licence.
However, Westwood has noticed not enough people know about this exemption, and no other candidates from other communities took advantage of this opportunity after them.
If they are qualified, candidates can offer vital support without formal schooling. Consumer Protection B.C. informed Westwood that applicants need some sort of qualification and training. They must complete 25 funeral service arrangements from start to finish by themselves.
A UNIQUE SOCIETY
In 2019, Westwood, Pierce, Natalie McFarlane, and some other Haida Gwaii residents established the Haida Gwaii Funeral Society as a non-profit organization. The society provides a platform to address challenges collectively.
It includes medical professionals and volunteers who assist in dealing with bureaucratic processes, consumer protection, permits, and transportation while offering support to grieving families during the funeral process. On Haida Gwaii, they are working to arrange educational workshops for interested candidates and then help them complete their required 25 funerals.
Westwood highly recommends that Prince Rupert and other northwest communities such as Metlakatla, which lack funeral businesses, form their own societies and begin obtaining licence exemptions to have local directors. He urges interested individuals to contact his society for guidance on establishing similar initiatives.
However, Rupert will encounter a challenge when applying for the exemption. According to current law, for a municipality or electoral area to qualify as a 鈥渞emote service area,鈥� it must satisfy two conditions: (a) it must not be accessible in all seasons by a highway that connects the area to the nearest licensed funeral director, and (b) it must be at least 200km away from the closest funeral provider. While Prince Rupert may fulfill the first requirement, it does not meet the second, as the nearest funeral provider in Terrace is less than 200 kilometres away.
Amanda Parry, manager of communications and education at Consumer Protection BC, says the law would need to be changed again if an applicant wants an exemption in an area that currently does not meet the definition of a 鈥渞emote service area.鈥�
Westwood stresses that Rupertites should consider practicing another solution in the current situation.
"When someone dies at home, I don't care who you are, where you are, or why. Standard is 鈥� you phone an ambulance, simply state they're unconscious or not breathing, the ambulance will come and pick them up and take them to the hospital, so regardless, they end up in the hospital morgue," he said.
He says that legally, an ambulance cannot pronounce someone dead; it is the coroner's job. The reason they don't like already pronounced dead people to be taken in the ambulance is because if the ambulance does so without knowing the cause of death, everything in it needs to be stripped and sanitized.
"But again, it's the height of immorality and indecency to walk away and leave that person with a dead body lying in the house," Westwood said. "The ambulance should have taken it because the Prince Rupert Hospital in Rupert are the only people with a functioning morgue, and common decency requires that the body be taken to a functioning morgue."
Two hospitals in Haida Gwaii accept dead individuals in their morgues.
Northern Health states that if the B.C. Coroners Service needs to investigate a death, the coroner will transport the deceased to the hospital morgue. However, if the coroner decides that an investigation is not necessary, they will not take the body to the morgue and will instead instruct the family to arrange for transport and funeral services on their own.
BE PREPARED
Bradd Tuck is the executive director of the B.C. Funeral Association, a member-based non-profit organization representing funeral services, cemeteries, and crematoriums throughout B.C. In addition to advocating for improved funeral services at the provincial level, the association also partners with the Canadian College of Funeral Service to offer training and education that helps students obtain their director and embalmers licences.
"I think it's so important to have conversations about death. We know it's going to occur for everybody," said Tuck.
He finds it beneficial to equip people with step-by-step knowledge of the process and all the options available ahead of time. This preparation may involve contacting funeral homes, understanding timelines and budgets, and being aware of potential challenges.
Using the roadmap provided by the B.C. Funeral Association online and calling them for guidance on every step to take in the event of death will help ensure people are prepared to make all necessary decisions in advance.
"When you're grieving, it's really difficult to take in new information and to process and understand what's happening. So if you can do that when you're not in a period of crisis, then it can be really helpful," Tuck said.
He suggests that the Provincial Burial Program, administered by the British Columbia Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, helps families pay for funeral costs when the deceased's estate or family cannot afford them. However, he says the funding formula hasn't changed since 2007, which is problematic.
"The government is far below the costs that are needed in rural areas to perform the services. The funding that's available is about half of what's necessary, and B.C. is by far the lowest funding for the program, or its equivalent across the country."
His association is currently advocating to increase the $2,300 funding to at least $4,000.
Tuck says another program people can use is the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) death benefit, which can provide up to $2,500 toward funeral services. However, he says funding programs are just one piece of the puzzle.
"If there aren't people establishing the business in the community, and there's nobody to work at those businesses, then the services aren't available."
The association is offering a Foundation Program that gives students an extra year to complete their studies and reduces in-person instruction hours. This benefits remote students, who can mainly study online and only need to attend 10 days in Vancouver.
They have 10 students from northern B.C., among a total of 78. In their second year, students can do apprenticeships at licenced funeral homes in their communities, such as Smithers, 100 Mile House, and Terrace, with the association helping to make those connections. They've also increased class sizes from 30 to 80 to help with staff shortages in B.C.
Westwood and Pierce say they follow a motto: "Non moralis ad lucre mortuis," or "It's not good to get fat off the dead."
In Haida Gwaii, people believe that embalming is an unnecessary desecration of remains in 98 per cent of cases, except for international or inter-province travel, and they do not practice embalming on the island.
"Probably a lot more people would be interested in joining this profession if they did not have to be involved with embalming," said Pierce.
This is the third and final instalment of a special report examining the state of deathcare in Prince Rupert. we looked at the problem as seen through the experiences of residents of a town that currently has no local funeral services. we looked at the obstacles, both legislative and practical, that have left the city without local services for the past three years.
