Cremations.ca
386 Mill St S L1B 1C6 Newcastle, ON, Canada

Many LTC facilities are requiring families to make prearrangements with a funeral home...we can help with this. Contact us by telephone or email and we can record the required information. There is no cost to you and it only takes a few minutes, giving you the peace of mind that everything will be looked after. We deal with all LTC facilities and are available 24 hours a day. 1-877-987-3964, email: [email protected] https://cremations.ca/plan-for-the-future

Published and peer reviewed study showing that low temp alkaline hydrolysis does sterilize.

Another great editorial by Pat Ottman at Canadian Funeral News.

Charbonneau’s Quest for Alkaline Hydrolysis Approval in Ontario: A Timeline

Pat Ottman had the guts to talk about the bologna behavior of the BAO. A great one-pager, on how Ontario regulators are shooting #alkalinehydrolysis in the knees under the guise of "consumer protection" and "public health and safety." Let families choose!!!

This is the best editorial I have seen yet about the situation that is occurring in Ontario with respect to Alkaline Hydrolysis. Save Us By Patt Ottman...Continue reading

Well, we won again! The appeal from the Bereavement Authority of Ontario was dismissed by the Ontario Divisional Court which means we are once again able to provide Aquamation to the families we serve. I want to thank the funeral directors that I have the pleasure of working with, Doug Rutherford, Kellie McKendrick, Kelly Chatterton, Andrea Kimber and Harlee Jantzi. Also a big thank you to the community for all the support throughout this ordeal.

A good article in today's Globe and Mail GRANT ROBERTSON TORONTO THE GLOBE AND MAIL... September 18 at 8:24 PM ET Inside Osgoode Hall this week, a debate has erupted over how to dispose of a body. Specifically, the argument is over whether the province should allow a new process marketed as an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation, by dissolving the deceased rather than burning the corpse in flames. The case, an appeal before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court, comes with high stakes for the funeral industry, since the fate of the technology may hang in the balance in Canada’s most populated province and potentially elsewhere in the country. On one side of the feud is Trevor Charbonneau, the owner of a funeral home in Newcastle, Ont., that was granted a licence by the province in late 2017 to operate a low-temperature alkaline hydrolysis machine, and soon began doing a booming business. The device, which resembles a large metal cylinder, uses a concoction of water, alkaline chemicals, heat and pressure to accelerate natural decomposition and break the body down to an end-product that resembles the ashes produced by cremation. On the other side is the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), the funeral-industry regulator that gave Mr. Charbonneau the go-ahead to begin offering the service, but then had a change of heart this summer amid concerns about potential health risks, and now wants to revoke his licence. The BAO said it did not realize Mr. Charbonneau intended to operate what is known as a low-temperature machine, instead of a high-temperature unit. High-temperature machines complete the process faster by using higher heat levels and are already licensed in the province. The BAO is now trying to undo its decision, saying it didn’t fully understand the technology at the time. I’m not sure at the time of licensing we knew there was a distinction, BAO chief executive officer Carey Smith said in an interview. We’re just playing catch-up as a regulator, really, is what’s happening. The BAO is concerned about the byproducts of the procedure, since liquefied remains such as organs and bodily fluids from the dissolving process make their way into the sewers at the funeral home, much the same way fluids and tissues drained from the embalming process at a funeral home are disposed down drains. Mr. Smith said the BAO wants more evidence that the low-temperature procedure will destroy any diseases that may be present. But Mr. Charbonneau says he’s being unfairly singled out because of the success of the service, which became popular among his customers. He argues the health fears are unproven, and that there is enough science to support the safety of low-temperature hydrolysis, which breaks down the body using temperatures of about 95.5 C over 14 hours, compared with the high-temperature process, which takes about six hours and reaches temperatures of up to 150 C. The result in both cases is an effluent that is a "sterile DNA and RNA free liquid, the funeral home director states in court documents. The "alkalinity, more than the temperature, is what sterilizes the remains, he said. Public Health Ontario recently issued a report saying more research is needed to confirm its effectiveness," while the BAO said there is a lack of consensus among the experts as to whether the effluent causes a risk to the public. In court documents, the BAO accused Mr. Charbonneau of misleading the province over the machine in his licence application. But the funeral-home director says he sent his advertising brochures and other information to the regulator for approval. The material stated he was offering the only low-temperature machine in the province. Mr. Charbonneau says he also opened his door to Mr. Carey and BAO inspectors to come view the apparatus, but they never came. If I was trying to hide the fact that I had a low-temperature machine, how could I be inviting them all to come witness the first process? Mr. Charbonneau said. The BAO revoked Mr. Charbonneau’s licence this summer after an unannounced inspection, which alleged his facility was disorganized and potentially unsafe. Mr. Charbonneau hired an outside consultant to fix the problems flagged in the inspection, and appealed to a provincial tribunal to reinstate the licence. The tribunal sided with Mr. Charbonneau, saying the regulator hadn’t proven there was enough of a health risk from the new machine to shut him down. The BAO then appealed the tribunal decision, which is now being heard at Osgoode Hall, and the licence has been on hold since then. Mr. Charbonneau’s camp has pointed to other jurisdictions where low-temperature units are in use, including Quebec, Saskatchewan, and 40 States in the United States, as well as at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto, and the Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Neither side has presented a definitive study to support their arguments. The regulator put forward a review of literature on the subject, while Mr. Charbonneau submitted a study he said cost $25,000 to commission, which the BAO criticized was not yet peer-reviewed. The concept itself is not new. Natural alkaline hydrolysis is the same process that breaks down bodies buried in cemeteries over a long time. Mechanically assisted alkaline hydrolysis essentially accelerates this natural process to hours," Mr. Charbonneau says in court documents. Though the process has been around since the 1800s, it’s only in recent times that it has been commercialized and billed as a less-expensive and environmentally friendly alternative to fire cremation. Though alkaline hydrolysis is not cremation, he said the vast majority of his cremation business began opting for alkaline hydrolysis. He believes other industry players are unhappy with him as a result. In an e-mail tabled as evidence by Mr. Charbonneau’s lawyers, an unnamed person sent a copy of Mr. Charbonneau’s advertising to the BAO complaining that he was touting the technology as green cremation, even though it’s not technically cremation. Seriously, this guy needs a trimming! the person told the BAO. The BAO says the case is about public health and safety concerns as it tries to come to terms with how to regulate new ways to handle bodies after death, including organizations who are pushing for composting technologies to be adopted. Mr. Charbonneau suspects other provinces are watching the dispute closely. In addition to the nearly $200,000 Mr. Charbonneau spent on the machine after obtaining the licence, he said his legal bills are now roughly $300,000, and he has lost that much in business while his licence has been suspended. It’s unbelievable the damage that this is costing," Mr. Charbonneau said. I just want it to be over. I just want to be able to offer it to families and continue on my way and I never thought I’d find myself in this position. But I’ve invested too much to walk away at this point. So I either win and continue on, or I’ll have to go out of business." Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

Bio Cremation is back! After a lengthy hearing the License Appeal Tribunal has ruled in our favour and we are once again offering this service to the families we serve.Bio Cremation is back! After a lengthy hearing the License Appeal Tribunal has ruled in our favour and we are once again offering this service to the families we serve.

Well worth watching

Join us at the 50+ Lifestyle Show at the Ajax Convention Centre. Free admission. Sunday and Monday 10am-5pm.

Join us Sunday and Monday at the 50+ Lifestyle Show

Please take a minute out of your day to support Alkaline Hydrolysis for Ontario families. Thank you.

Back in 1992 Dr. Gordon Kaye (he passed away in February, 2019) and Dr. Peter Weber, both of Albany Medical College, filed patent for the process of alkaline hy...drolysis to dispose of radioactively contaminated carcasses (animal carcasses) used in research. Prior to that the only way to process these was to wrap and seal the animals in containers and send them to specialized landfills at a cost of about $150 per animal (rabbits in this case) used in cancer research. Dr. Kaye took it upon himself to find a solution that could convert the animal to liquid so that the radioactivity could legally be disposed of in the sewer system (per federal regulations 10-CFR-20). Dr. Weber resolved how to do this immediately using alkaline hydrolysis and the process of modern alkaline hydrolysis was born. The patent (U.S. patent 5,332,532) clearly spells out the use. Research with approved isotopes showed that the radioactivity would go down the drain and not remain in the vessel (due to a soap coating the forms on the vessel walls they are impenetrable by the isotopes) and virtually none in the bone remnants. The same was found out about cytotoxic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) that were found to be either alkali or amine labile and also destroyed in the process. Alkaline hydrolysis is the safer way to handle radioisotope contaminated bodies both for the workers using the process as well as the environment. The radioisotopes that go to the sewer are diluted (see 10-CFR-20 for details) to beyond background levels where they pose no risk to anyone downstream of the process. See more

We offer our simple cremation only package for $1,762. This includes all fees, disbursements and taxes. Visit our website at www.cremations.ca for more information.

We are almost at 1000 signatures!! Help us spread the word, share with your friends, family and colleagues. Everyone should have the opportunity to have a choic...e. You can make the difference for the future! SIGN THE PETITION TODAY! https://www.change.org/p/ministry-of-government-and-consume

Please sign the petition to allow fair regulations in Ontario for alkaline hydrolysis.

Have a Safe and Happy HalloweenHave a Safe and Happy Halloween