Finally, rather than having to seek a place of interment elsewhere, locals of Tête Jaune Cache will be able to lay their loved ones to rest at home, forever.
Last week, the Regional District of Fraser- Fort George (RDFFG) was given conformation regarding the transfer of the Carr Road Property from the Federal Government, meaning a cemetery in Tête Jaune is official.
“Our next step is to obtain a Certificate of Public Interest through Consumer Protection (who regulated Cemeteries in B.C.),” says Meredith Burmaster, community services leader for the RDFFG.
“It will allow us to use the property as a place of interment,” she says.
The RDFFG hopes to have the certificate before the end of the year, according to Burmaster, so the district will have enough time to prepare the land over the 2017 spring and summer to be used as a cemetery.
In 2015, the RDFFG provided an update in which surrounding area property owners voted in favour of establishing a taxable service to fund the building and maintenance of a community cemetery on a piece of Crown land on Carr Road in Tête Jaune.
After a public referendum for the rezoning application in August of 2015, the Regional Board approved the rezoning of the property, Burmaster says.
Ainsley Jackman, secretary of the Tête Jaune Community Club, says the community hasn’t made any efforts to advance the cemetery in a long time, mostly because of there being so many hoops to jump through.
“Now we’re going to have to sit down and get busy, reunite with the board members, and talk about what the next steps are,” says Jackman.
“Many of us hope to be buried there,” she says.
Families who have lived in Tête Jaune all their lives have had to look elsewhere for proper burial arrangements over the years, Jackman says, as there wasn’t a designated cemetery.
“I guess we felt it would happen at some point, so it’s not a big surprise,” says Jackman. “Families have been saving ashes in the hopes of laying their loved ones to rest here.”
Dannielle Alan, director for the RDFFG says the district is looking forward to taking the next steps to make the Tête Jaune Cemetery a reality.
