I can understand that some fire services might find it difficult to make the investments that would allow them to do this. However, failing to do so would mean ignoring a reality: the risk of cancer is always present, whatever the structure of a fire service, whether it is small or large or whether it has permanent or volunteer firefighters.
Fire services will have to make this shift to ensure better protection for their firefighters. Indeed, they should not have as their only recognition the possibility of developing cancer. It is scientifically proven that the threat of cancer is present among firefighters. A structure must be put in place to ensure the protection of firefighters.
That is one of the reasons why I said in my speech that the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs wanted the joint emergency preparedness program to be revived. This would make new money available to Canadian fire services to purchase the equipment they need to protect firefighters while protecting the Canadian public.
Canadian firefighters are the first line of civil defence in Canada. Canadian citizens depend on the effectiveness, performance and presence of firefighters across the country. Without it, their safety is necessarily at risk.