Sydney funeral director's licence revoked after wrong body cremated

A funeral director's licence has been revoked in Sydney, N.S., for cremating the wrong body.

The Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors pulled Joseph Curry's licence on Friday, effective immediately.

In a news release, the board said the wrongful cremation occurred at Forest Haven Memorial Gardens funeral home.

The company's website says Curry has more than 25 years experience in the business.

The funeral home and its cemetery on the Sydney-Glace Bay Highway are owned by former Liberal MLA Dave Wilton of New Waterford.

Wilton did not return calls for comment.

Wrongful cremations rare: board

"Errors resulting in a wrongful cremation are rare occurrences that have an irreversible outcome and significantly compound the loss the affected family is experiencing," board co-chair Lisa Smith said in the release.

No one from the board was available for an interview. In an email, the board said no other details would be released out of respect for the family's privacy and because the funeral home's licence is now under review.

Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services confirmed it is scheduling a hearing into the funeral home's licence.

Nova Scotia Health is also looking into the incident, but details on that were not immediately available.

Professional development sessions coming

The provincial funeral service association said in a release it would work with the board to change regulations "so that a wrongful cremation never happens again in our province."

The association also said it would hold sessions with industry members next month on crematory operations, chain of custody and identification procedures.

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