‘How could this happen?’ Surrey man’s ashes left in shipping limbo during Canada Post strike

When Dennis Walstrom, 65, died suddenly in Surrey in late October from complications of lung disease, his daughter Emily Walstrom opted to have him cremated.

Walstrom, who lives in Montreal, arranged with the funeral home to pack his father’s ashes for transport with Canada Post, the only major shipping company allowed to transport human remains in the country.

“They told me they could send him out on the 12th and he would arrive on the 20th of November,” he said.

On Nov. 13, a Canada Post tracker showed the remains were at a sorting facility in Richmond. Two days later the union went on strike and there has been no improvement since then.

“I don’t know where his remains were in transit when the strike started, I don’t know anything,” Walstrom said.

“I wonder where he is, when he will arrive, and how this could happen.”

Walstrom said he was shocked that human remains were not on Canada Post’s essential delivery list during the strike.

“You’re taking someone’s loved one from point A to point B, and now you’re waiting in the middle to say, we’re stopping them here,” he said. “We’ve lost people’s loved ones in transit and we have no answers.”

A spokesperson for Canada Post acknowledged in a statement that the strike presented a “difficult situation” for Walstrom.

“We understand but unfortunately CUPW’s decision to launch a national strike means we will not be able to process or deliver products. The spokesman said all mail and parcels on the postal network have been secured and will be delivered on a first-in, first-out basis when operations resume.”

“I have to trust that it will happen, but I also trust that they will be here on the 20th,” Walstrom said.

Walstrom remains in limbo as Canada Post and striking workers try to reach an agreement.

“I have no idea how to accept the fact that I have no idea where his remains are, when he will be here, and when we can lay him to rest.”