On behalf of our 23,000 members across Canada, I'm honoured to share our views on this very important subject with the committee.
Canada's professional firefighters are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week in cities large and small across this great country. We're usually the first on the scene of any emergency. Whether it's a structural fire, a highway accident, a serious medical call, a hazardous materials incident, or any other emergency, we're Canada's first line of defence.
Everyone knows that firefighting is a dangerous and physically demanding occupation, and that firefighters suffer high rates of workplace injury and illness while protecting the lives and properties of the public. For this reason, eight provincial and two territorial governments have enacted legislation since 2002 that includes hard injury and a growing list of cancers to the occupational hazards of firefighters who have a certain number of years on the job. While we welcome these advances, less known are the mental demands of being a firefighter, including the effects of being exposed on a regular basis to graphic scenes and images that anyone would find disturbing and difficult to see.
Like other first responders, firefighters are required to attend the scenes of accidents, crimes, suicides, and other incidents where people, whether adults or children, have died or been seriously injured. Only those who work as first responders know what grim sights we see in the course of our duties. We see things the general public doesn't.
Do these things take a toll on a first responder's mental health? Even for a burley firefighter, a seasoned paramedic, or police officer, of course they do. We are human after all.
For too long, post-traumatic stress disorder has been a hidden secret among firefighters and other first responders. It has existed in the shadows of our profession. Haunted by the effects of our job but feeling the stigma of appearing weak and unwell in front of our shift mates and families, in the face of society's expectations too few firefighters struggling with the mental health implications of our profession have reached out for help. Too often, firefighters have turned to alcohol or other drugs to deal with their difficulties, with marriages and other relationships crumbling under the strain. In many cases, fear of the financial implication of stepping away from a career becomes another reason to stay silent.
Tragically, PTSD has claimed the lives of numerous firefighters across Canada who succumbed to dark thoughts they could not shake and committed suicide. Our friends at Tema Conter Memorial Trust tell us that 18 first responders have died by suicide in Canada so far, in 2015. It's a sad and shocking number. Earlier this year, our affiliate in Surrey, British Columbia, IAFF Local 1271 experienced the shock and pain of two members' suicides in a seven-week period. These are difficult numbers to report, but we agree that, finally, these numbers need to be put out in the open. If we're going to address mental health and PTSD in the first responder community, we had better know the exact scope of the problem and what we're up against.
Recently, there has been a growing awareness of PTSD in firefighting, and a growing willingness among firefighters to acknowledge that they're potentially affected by PTSD and need to ask for help. At the same time, there is growing acceptance that PTSD is a direct result of certain professions, including firefighting. In 2012, British Columbia and Alberta became the first Canadian provinces to formally recognize the mental health aspects of emergency services with legislation deeming PTSD to be presumed the result of a firefighter's occupation for the purpose of workers' compensation. In November 2014, Manitoba announced it would also be adding this important protection for its first responders.
These groundbreaking legislative advances were giant strides in helping to break down barriers that have existed for too long. They assist greatly with any financial concerns firefighters or their families might have about leaving the work place to seek help and treatment for PTSD, and they help bring the disease out of the shadows even more.
The IAFF commends British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba for leading the way provincially on this issue. We hope to see this protection spread across Canada, the same way presumptive cancer legislation did. We thank everyone who has contributed to the growing awareness about PTSD and first responders in the past year. Slowly but surely the stigma is decreasing. Any initiative that makes it easier for fire fighters to seek assistance is an initiative that will save lives.
While the issue of work place compensation is important, we believe much more needs to be done. We also believe that information and resources should be available to all of Canada's first responders, regardless of which province or city they work in. That's why we're calling on the federal government to establish a national action plan for post-traumatic stress disorder. We believe there's a role for the federal government to play, and it's an important one.
We envision a national action plan that can apply to such first responders as firefighters, police officers, and paramedics, and also to military personnel and veterans. We envision a plan that considers five elements—best practices, research, education, awareness, and treatment—and that becomes a framework for an effective and all-encompassing PTSD tool kit that can be used as a resource by any first responder agency or individual who needs it.
We encourage the committee to recommend the development of a coordinated national strategy through multi-departmental collaboration as well as input from stakeholders, including the IAFF, to assist in identifying the nuances of first responder health and ensure that best practices for mental health care and suicide prevention can be effectively addressed.
We recently lobbied the federal government on the need for a national action plan for PTSD. We were encouraged by the interest expressed by numerous MPs and senators. I hope that members of this committee will share that interest and will agree that when it comes to our first responders and what they do for us on a daily basis, we owe it to them.
In closing, I would like to say to anyone listening that if you're a leader in the fire service, please make sure you foster a culture in your department or organization in which there can be an open conversation about this particular danger; in which those who may need help know what resources are available; and in which they can access those resources promptly and confidentially. If you're a first responder or anyone else struggling with PTSD, there's no shame in reaching out and getting the help you deserve.
Thank you. I'd very happy to answer any questions from the committee.