I think the biggest struggle we've had provincially is that we only contract our wildland firefighters for four to six months. The problem with that is that we are competing with other jurisdictions across the country that do year-round firefighting. B.C. is a prime example.
We also pay the least in the country. If you look at Parks Canada versus Alberta, Parks Canada pays about $10 an hour higher in Alberta than the province does. That creates an issue around people moving through their career because they're competing with two different jurisdictions that pay very different salaries.
The other piece of that is, because it's so short term, they don't receive benefits and they don't receive high wages. The one thing I want to make sure that all members of the committee understand is that—and this is a non-partisan issue—presumptive coverage for cancer needs to be covered for all firefighters. No matter if you're a structural, industrial or wildland firefighter, cancer coverage has to exist.
We know these individuals are exposed to toxic environments that cause cancer. Every single member of the committee, I would encourage you to please look at OH and S presumptive coverage and support our firefighters.