The Opposition House Leader says he’s pleased that legislative changes approved in the House of Assembly last week will finally allow some bodies held in storage in the Health Sciences’ basement parking garage to be respectfully laid to rest.

But Barry Petten says, that doesn’t mean that the coolers won’t still be needed.

Petten says there are 36 bodies stored in freezer units, an issue that first came shockingly to light earlier this year.

Barry Petten says making the changes needed to allow the Health Authority to finally sign off on unclaimed bodies and have them dealt with in a dignified manner is welcome progress, but the problem remains.

“This new legislation, Bill 85, is only going to cover seven bodies,” says Petten. “This legislation is still not going to deal with the issues. One question I asked the minister was ‘when this legislation goes through, will those coolers still remain at the Health Sciences Centre?’ and he says ‘yes.'”