Citizens of all beliefs deserve a final resting place

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/07/2015 (4052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“To sustain longevity, you have to evolve.”

— Aries Spears, American comedian

Our cemeteries act as the intermediaries between the dead and the living, a focal point for those who are left behind to commune with those who have gone before us.

As such, cemeteries are weighted with the emotions of our citizens and the history of our communities.

Some of our oldest monuments to Brandon’s past are laid out, plot by plot, in the oldest section of the Brandon Municipal Cemetery, which was established soon after the city was created in 1882. History buffs can even follow a cemetery walking tour on the City of Brandon’s website that offers the history of well-known former residents who now reside six feet under.

Our thirst for a connection to our past serves as a strong explanation for the popularity of the annual two-hour interactive walking tour, Gossip in the Graveyard.

It’s not surprising that the trappings of our life — our ways and means, and beliefs and heritage — are strongly reflected in the choices we and our families make when we have shuffled off our mortal coil.

As a city, we should therefore expect our eternal resting spot to reflect the broader character and ultimate needs of our community. And as the decades pass, those needs change. In Brandon’s case, the time has come to plan ahead for the next 100 years.

On Monday, our city council adopted a new master plan for the Brandon Municipal Cemetery, which is expected to be completed in two phases and cost about $5.6 million.

The existing cemetery footprint has about 15 years remaining for casket plot sales and about 10 years left for columbaria and cremation. This fact, coupled with a consultant’s forecast that the city’s death rate will grow substantially as the baby boomer generation begins passing away between 2018 and 2045, meant that our cemetery required some new plans.

But this is not 1882, and the thinking that created our original cemetery plan cannot be imposed upon the 21st century realities of our growing community.

Case in point, the city’s major expansion plans call for a refurbished Veteran’s Precinct, as well as a Muslim section and a green burial area.

A report by LEES + Associates Landscape Architects and Planners that was provided to city councillors on Monday states that graves for a new Muslim section would be oriented to the northeast toward Mecca, and include an initial 25 plots for traditional casket interment and future expansion pending need.

As well, the green burial, which is typically an interment with a simple casket or shroud and does not include use of concrete grave liners or embalming, could include some aspect of habitat or ecosystem enhancement.

It’s no secret that our city character has changed in the last two decades, as more and more immigrants from around the world have begun to call Brandon their home. At the same time, society itself is becoming more aware of our effect on the environment. To see this reflected in the city’s plans is heartening, and comes as a direct result of community consultations with different cultural and faith groups, and veterans in our community.

Nevertheless, there remain at least a small percentage of our citizens who see such change as a threat to their way of life. A few of these concerned citizens expressed their displeasure to us after we reported the updated cemetery plans in yesterday’s paper.

Here’s one comment we received to our Sound Off email, of the sort we cannot ordinarily print: “Council and the mayor, thanks for letting our own culture go down the drain (a good example is our schools).Everyone has a right to be buried at a cemetery, but special sections other than for our veterans is just going too far. I have never heard or seen a thank you from any newcomers, just I want, I want.”

We don’t believe this is representative of the majority of Brandon citizens. Yet it remains a concern to those of us who believe in providing a welcoming atmosphere to newcomers of all beliefs and colours, a place where they can live — and die — in peace.

We can either stick our heads in the sand and try to deny the fact that the world around us — and the community in which we live — is changing, or we can realize the fact that, however slowly or quickly, our society constantly evolves.

There is a huge difference between walking toward that change and embracing it, and being dragged, kicking and screaming toward the new reality. One takes bravery and an open mind, the other simply foments fear of the unknown.

We choose to embrace it, and we’re glad to see that our city council is, too.