X-Message-Number: 22498
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:33:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: absence of Cryonic storage service in Canada

Below is an edited message, orginally sent to the Cryonics Society
of Canada mailing list, which might be of some small interest to members
of this list.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
> I am wondering if there is anything on the horizon
> regarding a service provider here in Canada?
>
  IMHO, here's two short answers: money & government regulation.
For a Canadian storage facility, the main customers would have to be
Canadians. Too few people in Canada are interested in cryonics, for such
a facility to be economically viable. In BC there is the addition problem
of section 57 of the Cemetary and Funeral Services Act, which reads as
follows: "No person shall offer for sale or sell any arrangement for
the preservation or storage of human remains based on cryonics,
irradiation or any other means of preservation or storage,by whatever name
called, that is offered or sold on the expectation of the resuscitation
of human remains  at a future time."
  Further thoughts regarding government regulation: CI was an illegal
operation for 27 years before being caught,and shut down. IMHO, it is
likely only a matter of time before Alcor suffers the same fate. Any
prospective Canadian facility would have to be scrupulous in observing the
letter of the law. Addition section inthe BC act states: "48. No person
shall dispose of human remains at any place in the Province other than (a)
in a cemetary or mausoleum, (b) by cremation, or (c) as prescribed" IMHO,
all other political jurisdictions are likely to have similar sections to
their acts.
  Part (c) is the most interesting option, and this is the only chance for
liquid nitrogen storage in Canada at present. In short a frozen brain (or
head) might be stored at an existing liquid nitrogen storage in Canada at
a medical school, or hospital. To my knowledge nobody has ever made any
inquiries regarding whether long term storage arrangements could be made
in Canada with existing facilities.
  Part (a) is also slightly interesting. As you may know, several attempts
were made at permafrost burial in Canadian cemetaries located in the far
north. I inspected one such attempt in Yellowknife, and was not impressed.
Particularly since that cemetary was not located in permafrost. In order
for tissue to be relatively stable in any cemetary in Canada mummification
of the body prior to burial would be an absolute necessity. At high
sub-zero temperatures, recrystallization of body water even in the
absence of overt thawing would eliminate any possibility of long
term stable storage in any Canadian cemetary.
  The cheapest, but by no means the best form of mummfication would be
the replacement of all body water with a liquid fixative such as ethanol.
This would have the sole advantage in being affordible to those of
limited means. At the opposite extreme of affordibility would be removal
of body water, first by osmotic dehydration, and then under vaccuum at low
temperatures in the absence of any fixatives.

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