On July 1, 2012 the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act will take effect. This single Act will cover what is now covered under separate Acts for the same services. There will be changes to the businesses of Funeral Homes, Cemeteries and Crematoriums that will impact how we operate our businesses and how we deal with families on a daily basis. As the time draws nearer, I will write about some of those changes. For now, I would suspect that all Funeral Homes are busy preparing for the changes and the impacts that they will make. As resistant as some people may be, many of the changes are designed to better protect consumers and that’s always a good thing.
Although I understand the importance of change, there are some changes in this old world that make me wonder. I listened to a radio show last week that interviewed the CEO of Chapters Indigo, probably Canada’s largest book store. She talked about the effects of electronic books and e-readers; how consumers are taking advantage of online books and how fewer people are going to bookstores. Part of me understands that this is happening since my wife and my children do exactly that, but in my old fashioned ways, I like to browse a book store looking for the best ever book to read, to hold it in my hand, to take it to a comfortable chair and fall asleep, sometimes only after a few pages.
Funeral Service has never been exempt from change. I’ve talked about the “rubber stamp funerals” of days gone by and how few options there were back then. I remember when cremation wasn’t discussed and now it’s common. In a few years we may be passing cremation over for one of the more environmentally friendly options that are appearing on the horizon. It will be a constant source of amazement.
