NDP Leader Jim Dinn continues to call on government to address the unclaimed bodies accumulating at the Health Science Centre after an ATIPP request revealed that government and NL Health Services knew about the issue for four years.

An ATIPP request shows that government not only knew about the issue of unclaimed bodies since 2020. These issues, discussed in the correspondence in the ATIPP, include the struggle to afford a burial and the delay with the Public Trustee seeking the next of kin and authorizing the release of a body.

“I’d like to say that I am shocked by this report, but it shows exactly what I have heard from families and funeral directors since 2020,” said Dinn. “Government only chose to take action to address this issue after they were embarrassed by media making it public. A trademark of this government.

“Reading through the correspondence, it is clear to me that the root cause for the bodies piling up is not the lack of space, that’s the effect,” adds Dinn. “Government must review the policy to make funding for burials more accessible, and to make the claiming of bodies easier for everyone.”