BATTLEFORD — The council of the Town of Battleford denied a Battleford resident's June 5 inquiry about the possibility of adding two burial cremains to an area in the Old Presbyterian section of the Battleford cemetery, where four members of the resident's family are already buried.
According to information presented to the council at their July 17 meeting by Jordan Schetchtel, the town's parks and recreation manager, the matter had already been discussed between the Interm CAO, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation as administration came forward with a recommendation to decline the request.
The town noted that they had many obstacles to overcome in the 1950s when the local churches became overwhelmed with care and maintenance for the cemetery and the town began caring for the site. Those obstacles include the loss of records due to transition and the town hall fire of 1965, and a lack of uniformity with burials prior to the 1950s.
“Because of this, we question if we accurately know how many are buried within the perimeter of this site,” the administrative report prepared by Gwenda Spence reads.
"We've had these in the past, and they’ve been refused for obvious reasons. We don’t want to open a new can of worms … we may have liked being able to help out, but we’re unable to at this point in time," Councillor David George said.
"It's all been said," Councillor Doug Laing said, mirroring other councillors' comments. "Every time we deal with the cemetery, it's always an emotional decision. So it's a tough one, but I'm in favour of the motion.”
The report notes that although appreciating the family history, other prominent families have also been declined for the same requests.
“My heart goes out to Linda and her family,” Deputy Mayor Kevin Russell said before the recommendation passed the council.
