X-Message-Number: 6292 Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 00:02:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Ben Best <> Subject: British Columbia, Socreds and Section 57 I thought that because Douglas Skrecky lives in British Columbia and because of his exchanges concerning Section 57 of the Funeral Services Act (the anti-cryonics law), that he would provide us with an informative posting concerning the result of the recent British Columbia elections. Instead, what he has said is (or could be) quite misleading. Certainly the fact that the Socreds were trounced in the recent election has nothing to do with the fact that they were in power when the Funeral Services Act (including Section 57) was passed. Section 57 was not an election issue, and was probably not on the minds of 99.99999% of the population when they went to the polls. The Ministers of the Socialist NDP which was victorious in the current election -- and who have been in power for the past 4 or 5 years have been arrogant & dismissive of any request to re-consider Section 57. NDP Minister Joan Smallwood's hostility and contempt went beyond that of any of her predecessors, although she received more mail on the subject, and she eventually became more "political". Section 57 was written-by and supported-by professional bureaucrats at the time the Socreds were in power, and these same bureaucrats have continued their bureaucratic lives in the NDP years. These bureaucrats are the ones responsible for the legislation, not the NDP or the Socreds (apart from the fact that neither the NDP nor the Socreds would consider an appeal). If there is anything positive about the fact that the NDP will remain in power it is that the current Minister responsible has told Douglas Skrecky that if the Funeral Services Act is reviewed, Douglas would be consulted. The Minister also made it clear that no review is foreseen, so this may just be a cheap promise (if not a lie). We may not be able to exert political pressure, but we may at least may be able to achieve some "water-torture". The Funeral Services Registrar, Paul Snikars, once told me how irritating it is for him to have someone phone him at least once a month about Section 57. Write: The Minister of Housing, Recreation Mr. Paul Snikars, Registrar and Consumer Services Cemeteries and Funeral Parliament Buildings Services Branch Victoria, British Columbia 1019 Wharf Street V8V 1X4 CANADA Victoria, British Columbia V8V 1X4 CANADA Tell them that there is no justifiable reason for cryonics to be illegal in British Columbia or anywhere. Tell them that medical personnel, funeral personel and common carriers should be given permission to assist in cryonics cases without fear of prosecution. Paul Snikars can be reached at (604) 387-9114, or FAX (604) 953-3533 -- Ben Best () Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6292