Family says B.C. man's cremated remains in limbo due to Canada Post strike

A Quebec woman whose father died in British Columbia last month says her family has been unable to properly grieve because the Canada Post strike has left his remains in limbo.

Emily Walstrom said her father's cremated remains were put into the mail before Canada Post employees walked off the job on Nov. 15.

That day, Walstrom received a notification from Canada Post that there would be a delay in receiving her father's remains due to a "labour disruption."

She said a conversation with a Canada Post customer service representative this week left her feeling a mix of sadness and anger.

"They are unable to tell me where his ashes are currently ... they don't have the ability to know where they've ended up," Walstrom said.

"Are his ashes in the back of a Canada Post truck parked somewhere? ... I don't even know what province he is in at this point."

Dennis Walstrom died on Oct. 23 in Surrey, B.C., of complications from lung disease. The 65-year-old was originally from Manitoba and had wanted his remains buried there next to one of his brothers.

Emily Walstrom was travelling internationally when he died but had arranged for his remains to be cremated in Surrey and mailed to Ile-Perrot, west of Montreal, where she lives. Walstrom planned to take the remains to Winnipeg for a proper burial.

Walstrom said she received a notification from a funeral home on Nov. 12 that her father's ashes were sent out and she should get them on Nov. 20. She also received a tracking number that indicated the same thing.

When she checked on Nov. 13, it said the item was in transit to Richmond, B.C.

Two days later, some 55,000 workers hit picket lines across the country after contract negotiations with their employer stalled.

Walstrom said while Canada Post representatives were compassionate, they were unable to offer her family solutions.

"It's really hard to grieve the way everything's unfolded, because there's grief mixed with anger," she said. "I'm scared that his ashes won't make it here."

Canada Post said it's a difficult situation.

"Unfortunately, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers' decision to launch a national strike means we're not able to process or deliver items," spokesperson Lisa Liu said in an email.

"Any mail and parcels in the postal network have been secured and will be delivered on a first-in, first-out basis once operations resume. However, the national strike will continue to impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends."

A key issue in bargaining has been a push to expand parcel deliveries into the weekend, but the union and Canada Post are at odds over how to make it work.

The Crown corporation did not respond to follow up questions on how many other complaints they have received from people in situations similar to Walstrom.

Those working in the funeral industry say they aren't surprised, as Canada Post is one of the only major shippers that accepts cremated remains.

"With cremated remains, that's a unique individual. It's a person's loved one, so (companies) are not able to replace that if the shipment was lost," said Bradd Tuck, executive director of the British Columbia Funeral Association.

"Many companies won't accept that level of risk."

Tuck said he's heard from members dealing with a delay in funeral services and of urns stuck in transit. He added that when strike talks began, a lot of funeral directors held off sending out cremated remains, but that wasn't always possible.

Brett Denning, past president of the Ontario Funeral Home Association, said sending cremated remains through Canada Post is a cost-saving measure for families who may otherwise have to travel long distances to crematoriums.

He said funeral homes would not likely have been aware of the threat of a postal strike, as they are busy dealing with day-to-day operations.

"We expect as business people that other business people do what they've promised to do and what they're contracted to do. I would say that's where the frustration lays."

Denning and Tuck said shipping through Canada Post had been reliable before the strike.

Denning recommended Canada Post assign a special status to cremated remains that make them quickly identifiable in the company's system.

Walstrom said little may be able to be done for her family but hopes that in the future Canada Post makes changes in how it handles cremated remains.

"If they're going to take the responsibility of handling human remains, then there needs to be full responsibility for the entire process."

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2024.