HALDIMAND—As more property owners come across headstones on a hillock or in a field, as church congregations dwindle, and as families take over and renovate churches with graveyards, Clearview Township has requested the Province, through the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), provide increased support to municipalities on this front.
Haldimand Council reviewed the letter on January 16, and ratified its unanimous vote to have staff to gather more information on January 24.
The Township of Clearview, home to several pioneer cemeteries, sent the letter in December to all municipalities, to Hon. Todd McCarthy, Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, to Jim Cassimatis, BAO Interim CEO/Registrar, and to its local MPP.
Clearview wants the Province to:
Amend the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002 (FBCSA) to have the province, through the BAO, identified as the default owner and operator of a cemetery when it is abandoned;
Provide annual funding (based on the number of cemeteries a municipality owns and operates) to municipalities to assist with the maintenance of inactive and active cemeteries;
Provide free training opportunities for municipalities regarding cemetery administration; and,
Investigate and support the design of universal cemetery software for use by municipal cemetery operators that can be offered at an affordable cost.
Haldimand has been facing local requests to maintain abandoned cemeteries already under its jurisdiction, as well as looking at ‘newer’ discoveries.
“We have had some concerns brought forward regarding a few cemeteries in Haldimand County during this past year, so I am looking to Council to support asking staff to report on particular numbers and costs of these abandoned cemeteries so that we can determine if we can support the Clearwater motion and we can ask the Province to take ownership of these abandoned cemeteries or future ones, also for more funding to help offset the maintenance costs of such cemeteries,” read Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley from her notes.
Councillor Patrick O’Neill asked for clarification on what classifies as an abandoned cemetery.
Jeremy Misner, Haldimand’s Manager for Parks, Facilities And Cemeteries, defined it as “where no active maintenance, no active records, and no active burials” occur. Misner noted the number of abandoned cemeteries locally is unknown, crediting assistance from local historians in collecting information to learn of others.
“Most of these cemeteries, people aren’t even aware they’re on their properties, said Misner. “They do have a requirement to maintain cemeteries on private properties, so there’s homeowners that have – be it an old family cemetery, or in the event of the Street Cemetery, where it was a historical cemetery – that they were just not aware of their responsibilities and duties.”
Councillor John Metcalfe noted the Street Cemetery specifically has been known about for quite some time, citing complications with involved property owners and Ministry of Transportation easements as slowing the process.
The County initially announced its intentions to restore and open the Street Cemetery to the public in early 2021. On Emancipation Day 2022, Metcalfe shared information he was given that the land transfer to the County would occur in a few weeks, but it did not take place until the following June. Work on the site was still incomplete by Emancipation Day 2023.
Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Case clarified that not all ‘abandoned cemeteries’ are fully abandoned, but that there is a growing number of church boards who have aged and can no longer keep up maintenance and have applied to the Superior Court for them to be considered abandoned.
According to the BAO, if a cemetery is declared abandoned, the municipality in which the cemetery is located – or, if the cemetery is not located in a municipality, the Ontario government – becomes the cemetery’s owner and takes over all of the previous owner’s cemetery assets, rights, and obligations.
Councillor Dan Lawrence pointed to an abandoned cemetery sandwiched between two homes in Seneca, and asked about moving it because of land value. Case said it would involve the BAO, but his requested example could be included in the coming report.
“If we do, it opens another rabbit hole, cause now you’ll have ancestors coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘oh, that’s where my great-great-great-great-grandfather was buried’ – and I fully respect that, but it’s a question to be asked and for this scenario moving forward,” said Lawrence.
“I would agree, it would be a very sensitive topic,” answered Case.
The BAO is currently actively involved with the County regarding several abandoned cemeteries.
“Many, if not most, municipalities own and operate cemeteries, including ones that have become abandoned over time,” said Cassimatis on the BAO’s work across the province. “We thank them for their civic responsibility. The vast majority of them keep their cemeteries in excellent condition for their communities.”
He said that every year, the BAO works with many municipalities during the process of becoming the owner and operator of a cemetery that has become abandoned.
“Municipalities do not ask us for funding of their cemeteries,” he said. “We do advise them that they are free to set their fees at rates covering the cost of maintenance, including the establishment of a Care and Maintenance Fund/Account.
“This trust fund’s purpose is to ensure there are funds available to maintain the cemetery in perpetuity, including once a cemetery no longer has new burials and the revenue that comes with them. Setting fees to adequately cover these costs is important to ensure proper care and maintenance in order for the community to pay their respects to those who have died and have a place to grieve or reflect.”
Cassimatis also said that under current legislation, law permits cemetery operators to charge fees and to increase them over time to keep up with current costs.
“Neither the Bereavement Authority of Ontario nor the FBCSA prevent any cemetery operator, including municipalities, from ensuring their rates cover their costs of maintenance,” he said, adding there was value to cemeteries.
“Cemeteries provide a place to grieve and reflect in our increasingly busy, modern times,” he explained. “Cemeteries also help preserve and respect a part of our collective past and specifically honour those who lived in the community. They can also be places that preserve a part of our history and heritage.”
Local documentary filmmaker Graeme Bachiu said that it was imperative to respect the dead, whether they were known or not.
“Nobody wants to be forgotten,” he said.
Bachiu, who has a six-part series “Canfield Roots” exploring Canfield’s rich freedom-seeking history, said the potential offloading meant “there definitely was a conversation that needs to be had here.”
“The law says that the cemetery has to have an owner, and if you can get in contact with the owner, they have to license an operator for that cemetery,” he said, pointing to the potential sale of Garnet United Church, which has a graveyard. “It’s becoming a big problem, because when the church sells, for example, it’s not immediately going to become the County’s problem – it will be the next owner’s problem.”
“But then it depends on the BAO, and perhaps the County would be much further ahead to simply lobby the ministry for more education for their people so that everybody understands how this is all supposed to work,” he concluded. “Haldimand Council and County don’t know much about this and they want to offload it to the province, so it would just mean the taxpayer pays it differently, that’s all.”