How the Initiative Came Together
The Journi May Dignity Initiative began with one family’s experience of pregnancy loss and grew into a broader effort to ensure that other families are given clear information, compassionate support, and meaningful choices at an extraordinarily difficult time.
The initiative has been shaped by the experience of Journi May’s parents, Sarah and Phillip, the policy and outreach work undertaken by Bob Ward, and the parliamentary support of Jeff Kibble, Member of Parliament for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.
Sarah and Phillip - Journi's Parents
At the centre of the initiative are Sarah and Phillip and the memory of their son, Journi May.
Their experience following Journi’s loss demonstrated how difficult it can be for grieving parents to understand what options are available and whom to ask for help. With assistance from their faith community, they were ultimately able to lay Journi to rest with dignity.
By allowing Journi’s story to be shared, Sarah and Phillip have helped turn a deeply personal experience into an effort intended to make the path clearer and more compassionate for other families.
Bob Ward — Initiative Developer and Coordinator
Bob became involved with Journi’s story through his role managing the cemetery at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Cobble Hill.
When Sarah and Phillip arrived to bury Journi, a place had already been prepared for him. Their experience, and the difficulty they had faced in understanding what respectful options were available, left a lasting impression.
It was after hearing Sarah and Phillip’s experience that Bob began to understand that the burial itself was only one part of a much larger issue. Their difficulty in discovering what options were available to them raised a troubling question: how many other families experiencing pregnancy loss were being left without clear information, compassionate guidance, or meaningful choices? Bob subsequently spent more than a year researching pregnancy-loss practices in Canada and elsewhere. He found wide differences in how families were informed, supported, and offered options for burial, cremation, remembrance, and spiritual care.
With the cooperation of Sarah and Phillip, that research developed into the Journi May Dignity Initiative. The initiative was named for Journi because his brief life became the catalyst for something intended to help other families facing the same kind of loss.
What began with the burial of one small child became an effort to ensure that other families would not have to search alone for dignity, information, and compassionate support.
Jeff Kibble, MP. CD - Parliamentary Support
The initiative was brought to Jeff Kibble, Member of Parliament for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, as a proposal for federal consideration.
As the local Member of Parliament for those involved, Mr. Kibble was familiar with the community context in which Journi’s story arose. In discussions about the initiative, he understood what needed to be done at the federal level and bring national awareness to the impact of pregnancy loss on families and the need for a more compassionate and informed response.
Mr. Kibble agreed to support the initiative through the parliamentary process and sponsor House of Commons e-petition e-7765. His involvement provided the initiative with a formal federal pathway and brought the concerns raised by Journi’s story into the parliamentary process.
From One Family’s Experience to a Public Initiative
The Journi May Dignity Initiative grew from a family’s experience, was developed through research and community outreach, and is now being advanced through public and parliamentary engagement.
Its purpose remains simple: to help ensure that families experiencing pregnancy loss are given clear information, compassionate support, and meaningful choices at a time when they should not be left to search for answers alone.