Mayor Doug McCallum approves Fraser Riverbank at Old Yale Road as dedicated location to host ash-scattering ceremonies

The Safe Surrey Coalition and Mayor Doug McCallum have formally recognizedFraser Riverbank in Brownsville Bar Park, located at 11931 Old Yale Road in Surrey, as adedicated place for communities to scatter cremated remains of their deceased loved ones.

For example, in South Asian cultures, cremated remains are customarily and religiouslymandated to be scattered into a flowing river, where it is believed that this is the only way for thedeparted soul to find salvation.

This ritual must be performed according to religious and culturalguidelines.

Due to the lack of a designated location for these ceremonies, in many cases people wouldsecretly and dangerously scatter them in the ocean or other adjacent waterways.

Variouscommunities have been diligently searching for a suitable location to scatter ashes for manyyears.

"This has been a long-standing requirement of growing communities that practice cremation asthe primary last rite ceremony and there has been no dedicated location set aside for this.

Withthe rise in number of cremations conducted in Metro Vancouver, the demand for a designatedlocation to scatter ashes is growing for the community at large" said Mayor McCallum.