FUNERAL HOME FINED
Restrictions placed on Glace Bay Funeral Home by provincial body.
The Registrar of Cemetery and Funeral Services has placed restrictions on funeral homes owned by Trevor Tracey in Bedford and Glace Bay.
Carley Sampson, media adviser for Service Nova Scotia, said the restrictions on T.J. Tracey Cremation and Burial Specialists resulted from unlicensed activity at the Bedford location.
On Aug. 3, Tracey pleaded guilty under the Cemetery and Funeral Services
Act to accepting money for prearranged funerals at his Bedford location without the necessary licence. He was fined $1,500.
In an email response to questions from the Cape Breton Post, Sampson said Tracey’s Glace Bay and Bedford funeral homes are only permitted to provide merchandise and services to customers at the time of death. Tracey is also not permitted to provide price quotes or wish lists to customers who want to pre-arrange a funeral at a future date.
Sampson said the Bedford and the Glace Bay funeral homes operate with separate funeral home licences.
The charges laid against Tracey related to business that was conducted at the Bedford funeral home, she said.
“We have not received any complaints about the Glace Bay location.”
Tracey expanded his business to Glace Bay in the summer of 2016 and it is located in the former Holy Family Church on Reserve Street.
In a press release, Service Nova Scotia explained that a licensed funeral home must also have a separate licence to sell pre-arranged funerals or sell insurance-funded pre-arranged funerals.
Service Nova Scotia urges the public to deal only with licensed sellers and to always check licensing status before paying money or entering into a contract for a pre-arranged funeral.