Owen, you may not already be aware, but there is a group of BC cryonicists and cryo-enthusiasts operating under the name cryoBC. Those of us in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area meet in Vancouver every other month, and we are incorporating a non-profit entity to help tackle this very issue (among others relevant to cryonics in the province, such as developing local stabilization capabilities).
Having a facebook page for the non-profit organization will be a no-brainer once it’s up and running, but a ‘cause’ page specific to the prohibition on the marketing and sale of cryonics arrangements in the province is a neat idea.
There are a number of undefined terms in the statutory provision (s.14 of the BC Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act) which need to be researched before we can really know exactly how to tackle it. For instance, the prohibition specifically targets cryonics (or other) arrangements sold “on the expectation of the resuscitation of human remains at a future time”—Well, what constitutes an “expectation”? Does it matter whether a consumer holds a particular expectation in spite of clear language from the service provider that no such expectation is being sold? And further, what constitutes resuscitation? If a person “expects” that their way out of cryopreservation will involve some or another form of mind-uploading, is the statute avoided entirely? On the other hand, “human remains” is defined specifically as a “dead human body.” Perhaps neuros don’t have to worry, provided that separation is carried out in BC, at which point the whole transaction might fall instead under the Human Tissue Gift Act.
In any case, we cannot fight what we do not understand, so legal research is a necessary first step, IMO. I assume you’re still in Victoria, Owen? I used to live there, and visit with some regularity. If you can’t make it to the next cryoBC meeting (late July, exact date TBD), then we should grab a coffee on the island soon.
I hope others don’t come away from my reply thinking that “we got this,” cause that’s not at all what I meant. We need all the help we can get, and I think a facebook cause page is a really good idea, one that I would love to help with. I appreciate that it’s an idea that you meant to massage a little further before releasing it into the interwebs, so I hope that you will continue to work on it and that others will join in as well.