EDMONTON — The Alberta government says it is reviewing its policies after funeral home operators accused it of conducting burials for those in care cheaply and disrespectfully.
Human Services Minister Dave Hancock says government policy is that all burials must be done with dignity.
Hancock was responding to a letter from the Alberta Funeral Service Association.
The association has cut its contract to bury poor people or children and severely handicapped people in government care.
The association says it can’t countenance tight-fisted policies that force children to be buried in adult coffins rather than more expensive child caskets.
Alberta’s Opposition Liberals also point out that rules that only allow bodies to be embalmed is an affront to the religious beliefs of Jews, Sikhs and Hindus.