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A Report on the 12th Annual Canadian Legislative Conference
by Russ Morrow – UFFW Executive
Fire fighters from across Canada gathered in Ottawa again this year to press government to enact legislative changes to further advance our goals. Winnipeg representatives were President Alex Forrest and Secretary Rob Labossiere who were joined by Provincial President Russ Morrow and a contingent from the Brandon fire fighters to visit with all our Winnipeg and Manitoba Members of Parliament.
The opening of the general session saw Deputy Prime Minister John Manley accept an award from the IAFF honouring all Canadians for our response and assistance following the attacks on September 11, 2001. Mr. Manley then received an IAFF Award of Recognition for his actions on Professional Fire Fighter Pension Reform. As you recall, he announced our increased pension accrual rate (2.33%) in his recent budget speech.
The keynote speaker for the day was Jack Layton the new leader of the Federal NDP. Jack spoke to us about funding for National Haz-Mat training.
Another award of recognition was then presented to
Denis St. Pierre, a newspaper reporter for the Sudbury Star. Mr. St. Pierre was recognized for outstanding news reporting and raising awareness abut public safety. His story covered a tragic fire in Sudbury that killed two young children and their great-grandmother. In this case the first arriving fire engine was staffed with only one fire fighter, which led to a delay in rescue efforts. The inquest that followed raised serious concerns of poor staffing of fire apparatus in Sudbury and other communities. The Coroner’s Jury also had a number of recommendations to the Ontario Fire Marshall to recognize the need for clear fire department standards and full time staffing in fire halls.
Finally, we were joined by the Hon. Claudette Bradshaw the Federal Minister of Labour. She thanked us for the difficult work we do and spoke on worker safety in general. We then observed a moment of silence for all workers killed on the job in the past year.
Buoyed by our success with the pension accrual issue, we were further encouraged to hear that the criminal code amendments we have been seeking were now passed 2nd reading in Parliament. Bill C-32 (specifically written because of fire fighter safety concerns) creates a new offence for setting traps in places used to commit crimes. This is the situation where, for example, we enter a structure fire to find a clandestine drug lab with strategic holes cut through the floor (or other booby traps). The maximum penalties are increased to 14 years for injury to life imprisonment for causing death.
April 29th saw all 107 fire fighters with our distinctive red brief case bags walking Parliament Hill to meet our MP’s and Senators. We focused our meetings on establishing a National Public Safety Officers Compensation Fund. This would mean the Canadian government would financially compensate families left behind by the death of a fire fighter in the line of duty. We also discussed the need for National Hazardous Materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction training for Canada’s Professional Fire Fighters. There is already a training program in place in the U.S. developed jointly by the IAFF and the American government. This much-needed program could be easily accessed by our government and provided across Canada.
Once again we feel we have made great strides in pushing our fire fighter agenda forward. Almost immediately, we began to receive news of our MP’s writing letters in support of our issues. We feel it is only a matter of time before we enjoy more legislative success.
On behalf of the entire UFFW Executive, I would like to thank the membership for their continued commitment to political action.