We have not received an update on the what happened to the Cemeteries Act Petitions in May 2011 when the Ontario Legislature was prorogued.
But we are told today that The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), and The Ontario Historical Society (OHS) received a life line from Jim Brownell, then retiring Member of Provincial Parliament for Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry. He arranged for the committee to meet John Gerretsen, then Minister of Business Services – the ministry in charge of cemeteries registration.
A list of more than 1500 unregistered cemeteries across the province was presented to Mr. Gerretsen and the committee had a first hand opportunity to tell the minister about the lack of protection and high risk of removal for unregistered cemeteries.
The joint OGS and OHS Cemetery Registration Committee has been resuscitated and, with assistance from many hardworking branch cemeteries committees, is working to compile the necessary information and send it to the Registrar.
To date the data for four counties – Algoma, Brant, Bruce and Carleton – have been forwarded to the Registrar of Cemeteries. Any new information for these counties will be also forwarded as it is discovered.
The committee asks anyone with cemetery information, particularly little known or abandoned cemeteries to contact them.
You can go to www.ogs.on.ca/home/advocacy.php#cemeteries and read about Bill 126, Inactive Cemeteries Protection Act, 2010.
