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Quebec's coroner's office launched an investigation after a video circulated online showing a funeral company employee inappropriately handling a corpse.
The video, without sound, shows a man on a long second-floor balcony in Quebec City grabbing one end of a white body bag and dragging it along the length of the balcony.
The video, posted on Facebook by Stephane Dupont, a radio host from Quebec, ends when the man reaches the stairs.
Dupont told CBC that he did not film the incident himself and that the footage was sent to him by a listener who witnessed the scene.
Dupont said he debated releasing the video but ultimately felt it was important to draw attention to what happened, calling the situation “horrifying.”
“Having lost my parents several years ago, I couldn’t imagine my father or mother being carried around in a bag like that,” he said.
Quebec's coroner's office has suspended a contract with a private funeral company after a radio host shared a video of an employee moving a body in a less than dignified manner.
Annie St. Pierre, Executive Director Corporation of Thanatologists of Quebec, An organization representing the province's funeral sector said it was concerned by what it had seen.
“It is disturbing, it is shocking, no matter the context, these are unacceptable conditions of transport,” she said, adding that it shows a lack of respect for human dignity.
St. Pierre explained that there are standards for how to properly move a body, including attaching the body to a stretcher carried by two people.
The carrier's contract is suspended
In an email to Radio-Canada, Jake LaMotta Granato, a spokesman for the coroner's office, confirmed the man in the video is an employee of a private funeral company under contract with the coroner.
LaMotta Granato said the contract was suspended pending an investigation.
He went on to say that the coroner's office has service contracts with about 100 private carriers and that they have obligations that must be met “regarding quality of service and respect for the deceased and their grieving families.”
“If a company fails to meet these obligations, the coroner's office will not hesitate to take action, as we did in this case,” he said.
The coroner's office also apologized to the family.
St. Pierre said she was glad the coroner acted quickly and opened an investigation.
Without making excuses for what happened, St-Pierre said there were ongoing problems in the industry, including labor shortages and the need to urgently care for a deceased person.
“The job of a funeral carrier is very difficult,” she said. “You can understand that there are not many people willing to take this job.”
She said her organization would fully cooperate with the coroner's office and the minister of public safety to shed light on the situation and ensure it never happens again.
For his part, Quebec Minister of Public Security Yann Lafrenière condemned the incident and said that he supported the decision of the coroner's office and expressed full confidence in his work.
