Tomorrow, Constable Leo Johnston, one of the four RCMP Mounties murdered at Mayerthorpe, Alberta on March 3, 2005, is scheduled to be disinterred from his original burial site at Lac La Biche, AB and moved to the cemetary at the RCMP depot in Regina, Saskatchewan. This request was made by his widow, Kelly Johnston.
Constable Johnston's mother, Grace Johnston, is very distraught over the impeding move, which she only found out about this past Friday. Since then, she has contacted her MLA , the Solicitor-General, and even the director of Service Alberta to help her stop the disinterment. She has also hired a lawyer to get an injunction against moving the body.
Unfortunately, if Kelly Johnston is the administrator or executor of her late husband's estate, there is probably little that Grace Johnston can do to stop her son's body from going to Regina. As I have stated in previous columns, the executor is the one who makes the final call on funeral and burial arrangements. Kelly may, however, be personally responsible for the costs of moving the body, rather than Constable Johnston's estate.
The public policy reasons for this are sound. Someone needs to be designated as responsible for making the final decision on funeral arrangements, otherwise families could dispute the arrangements for months, or even years!
An update will follow once this issue has been decided.
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