The Quebec coroner’s office has initiated an inquiry following a video that surfaced online depicting a worker from a funeral transportation company mishandling a deceased body. The video, lacking audio, captures a man on a lengthy second-story balcony in Quebec City pulling a white body bag along the balcony’s length.
The footage, shared on Facebook by Stéphane Dupont, a radio personality in Quebec City, ends abruptly when the man reaches the stairs. Dupont disclosed to CBC that he did not film the incident himself but received it from a listener who witnessed the incident. Despite contemplating whether to share the video, Dupont believed it was crucial to spotlight the incident, labeling it as “appalling.”
Expressing his personal connection to the matter, Dupont remarked, “Having lost my parents a few years ago, I couldn’t imagine my father or mother being carried in a bag like that, lugged around like that.”
Annie St-Pierre, the executive director of the Corporation des thanatologues du Québec, representing professionals in the funeral industry in the province, expressed dismay over the video, deeming the transport conditions depicted as unacceptable and devoid of respect for human dignity.
Following the incident, the coroner’s office suspended the contract with the private funeral transporter whose employee was featured in the video, as confirmed by Jake Lamotta Granato, a spokesperson for the coroner’s office. Granato emphasized the office’s commitment to service quality and respect for the deceased and their families, noting that actions would be taken if these obligations were not met.
Acknowledging industry challenges such as labor shortages and time pressures, St-Pierre underscored the difficulty of the funeral transporter role and pledged full cooperation with the coroner’s office and the public security minister to prevent any recurrence of such incidents. Quebec’s Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière denounced the event and expressed his confidence in the coroner’s office and its investigative process.