Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Once again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here today on behalf of the 20,000 professional firefighters we represent across Canada.
The national compensation benefit for the families of fallen firefighters and other public safety officers such as police is long overdue in Canada. It's a matter of equity. It's a matter of dignity for the family and it's a matter of ensuring that never again does the family of a fallen firefighter have to face financial hardship. Yes, it has happened, and it will happen again unless there is a national standard in place, a minimum amount of compensation covering all Canadian firefighters.
What currently exists is a patchwork of provisions. A small handful of these provide a meaningful benefit but the vast majority do not. What the family will receive depends upon where they live. It depends upon what province they're from or what city they live in. Should the dignity of a fallen firefighter's family depend upon which city or province they live in? I believe that an overwhelming majority of Canadians would want the federal government to establish a national benefit, and I urge you to recommend that the next budget include the funding necessary for the federal government to establish a national public safety officer compensation benefit here in Canada.
We propose that this benefit would be in the form of a one-time payment to the surviving family in the amount of $300,000. I ask you in your deliberations to recognize the essence of motion number 153, which stated that the federal government should establish a national compensation benefit for fallen firefighters. Motion 153 was adopted in the House of Commons in October 2005 by a vote of 161 to 112. We believe that was a clear indication that the majority of MPs, representing the view of the majority of Canadian citizens, believe that the government should establish this benefit.
With regard to funding for national hazardous materials and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response training, five years have now passed since 9/11 and billions of dollars have been allocated toward national security here in Canada, but still not enough front-line first responders have received the training they need to respond safely and effectively to these kinds of emergencies. In 2005 the Auditor General identified problems in design aspects and in the pace of delivery of the federal government's CBRN training initiatives for the first responders. We note there have been improvements since then, but we assert that more needs to be done, and it has to be done immediately. Last year we surveyed 170 of our local affiliates to find out how many felt they had the training to respond safely and effectively to CBRN incidents. To our alarm, we found that only 19% of our local affiliates had any members trained to respond to a CBRN incident in their city. A full 75% had little or in fact no training at all.
A shocking number of Canada's first responders don't even have basic hazardous materials training. Just four days ago, fire chiefs in northern British Columbia told the meeting that fire departments throughout their region, and I quote, “were under-equipped and not prepared” and have “no protection of any kind” against hazardous materials emergencies. We propose that for $500,000 annually the federal government could solve this problem in all parts of Canada by funding the IAFF hazardous materials training for first responders program and our emergency response to terrorism operation programs.
Our programs could train 1,600 first responders every year to a recognized level of CBRN response. Our programs are not just for firefighters. They're also for police officers, paramedics, utility workers, and part-time firefighters, for example.
We can arrange a demonstration of our program for the federal government for something in the range of $8,000, but this should not be about money. It's about ensuring that all Canadians are protected against the aftermath of a CBRN incident.
I note that the public safety minister in a recent letter copied to our affiliate in Victoria, B.C., has indicated he wants to meet with the IAFF to discuss our programs, and we look forward to those discussions. In the meantime, I would urge this committee to recommend that this important national security item be reflected in the next budget.
Thank you.