Support for Volunteer Firefighters Act

An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Insurance Act (volunteer firefighters)

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in August 2015.

Sponsor

Christine Moore  NDP

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Outside the Order of Precedence (a private member's bill that hasn't yet won the draw that determines which private member's bills can be debated), as of Oct. 1, 2014
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to prohibit reprisals against volunteer firefighters who must be absent from their work place or fail to appear at work in order to act in that capacity.
It also amends the Employment Insurance Act to provide that claimants remain eligible for any period during which they provide eligible services as a volunteer firefighter.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Support for Volunteer Firefighters ActRoutine Proceedings

October 1st, 2014 / 3:05 p.m.
See context

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-630, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Insurance Act (volunteer firefighters).

Mr. Speaker, after my bill for volunteer firefighters, Bill C-534, was rejected, a number of volunteer fire departments wrote to tell me how disappointed they were that Conservative and Liberal members had chosen to defeat the bill.

That is why I decided to introduce the bill once again. It contains the same legislative provisions as the previous version and will enable volunteer firefighters to be absent from their work to respond to emergency calls. This will help small municipalities recruit and have access to volunteer firefighters.

The bill also includes provisions regarding the Employment Insurance Act, to ensure that volunteer firefighters who are receiving EI benefits do not get caught in an administrative holdup if they participate in training or respond to an emergency call in that capacity.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)