Championing funding for Veterans for dignified end of life services.
jgreen • February 11, 2014
CHALLENGE
The Last Post Fund is a non-profit organization that offers financial benefits for funeral related expenses to eligible veterans and disability pensioners. Despite a constant rise in funeral costs, funding rate levels for the Last Post Fund had remained constant since 2001. This discrepancy in funding was making it harder for funeral homes to provide veterans with the dignified burials they deserve.
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The Funeral Service Association of Canada (FSAC) had waged a decade-long effort for the federal government to raise the amount paid for funerals of indigent veterans. Efforts by FSAC had maintained a narrow focus and resulted in little knowledge of the issue on Parliament Hill. Furthermore, there was a lack of pressure and discussion by the public to correct the problem. After ten years of being ignored, FSAC engaged Impact Public Affairs to correct this funding shortfall in the 2013 federal budget. A campaign style approach was implemented.
FSAC was honoured to accept the Canadian Society of Association Executives Make a Better Canada Award.
FSAC has received a letter from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, confirming that frontline essential workers are recommend to be vaccinated in the 2nd round of vaccinations. Read the full letter below.
L’ASFC élabore un « dossier de soutien à la vaccination » à l'intention des députés
FSAC Develops 'Vaccination Support Package' for Death Care Workers to Send to Local MPs
Information on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) / Mise à jour : Informations sur maladie à coronavirus
Information on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
FSAC Receives Acknowledgement of Priority Consideration for Vaccine
December 3 rd , 2020 Dr. Matthew Tunis Executive Secretary, National Advisory Committee on Immunization 130 Colonnade Road Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9 Dear Dr. Tunis, Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, deathcare workers in Canada have worked alongside frontline healthcare workers to ensure that the deceased from the virus are safely dealt with. We have appreciated Health Canada’s and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s support with the provinces to ensure that our sector is supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE) and through other means. However, as news emerges of potential vaccines on the horizon, I am writing you regarding the priority sequence for vaccination. While we encourage frontline healthcare workers who deal with COVID-19 patients on a daily basis to be at the top of the list for vaccinations, we believe because of the risk that our sector takes on that deathcare workers should have priority over the general public. When an individual passes away from COVID-19, the responsibility falls to deathcare workers to ensure that the body is properly dealt with in a safe manner in order to not spread the disease further. Our workers attend the facilities in which the death occurred and interact with staff that have been directly exposed to the virus, which represents an increased risk to the individual. While deathcare workers have been specifically trained to minimize risk through procedural alterations and use of PPE, this does not remove the potential for infection completely. This is why we believe the federal government must work with its provincial counterparts in ensuring that deathcare workers are included in the list of priority for vaccination. The National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in the U.S. recently released their framework which included deathcare workers in the highest priority phase for vaccine allocation, and we believe Canada should follow suit. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach me at info@fsac.ca . We understand that your office is preoccupied with this situation, and appreciate any time you can give to considering our members. Thank you, Allan Cole President Funeral Service Association of Canada 800-1730 boul. St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, ON K1G 3Y7 613-505-0277 · info@fsac.ca · www.fsac.ca
FSAC President Requests Priority Sequence for Vaccine
Death Care Professionals Deemed Essential Workers [Letter]
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