Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this opportunity to share our views on behalf of the 21,000 men and women who belong to the International Association of Fire Fighters in Canada. There are two issues I'd like to raise with you today, both of them very important to professi

Finance committee  We certainly wouldn't be opposed to it being looked at. Whether or not the paramedics truly belong in the public safety officer envelope is something that should be addressed, and I'm sure paramedics are bringing that forward. We are not opposed to it, no.

Finance committee  One of the things we've asked for here today is for the fire service statistics to be compiled through Statistics Canada. We believe the infrastructure and all the elements of that are clearly in place. It's more a matter of will to get the information out to the provinces and re

Finance committee  It would be a nationally administered fund. Currently deaths in the line of duty are recognized provincially by the workers' compensation boards. When the provision would meet the requirement--when it would be deemed to be an occupational death--the benefit would be paid, and it

Health committee  Thank you. Good morning. On behalf of the International Association of Fire Fighters and the 22,000 professional firefighters and emergency medical responders we represent across Canada, we appreciate this opportunity to share our views about vaccine priority lists with the hea

Health committee  Meanwhile, in Canada, firefighters in one province were actually ridiculed in writing by a senior provincial health official for daring to ask during the H1N1 pandemic that they be properly recognized as front-line health care workers and be prioritized. In another province, fire

Health committee  Considering the firefighters, and we represent 22,000 across Canada, I would say it would be in the vicinity of 90% who did not receive the vaccine. It was an anomaly that we're the ones who did receive the vaccine in that first tier. It was due to the confusion and the miscommun

Health committee  —or not to differentiate them. I understand the concerns about tying the hands in the actual plan, but I think that any time there's an inclusion and discussion of emergency medical providers, firefighters should be part of that definition.

Health committee  I think it's clear that it is a guideline. I don't think we dispute or are suggesting the government should go beyond issuing a guideline. We're suggesting that the plan and subsequent guidelines that are released have to be very clear and clearly understood. Again, I think in a

Health committee  There has been no concerted effort by us to deal with it at a provincial level because quite frankly we see the confusion originating at this level. If the guidelines and the plan were clear on that, I think the individual issues that may arise at the provincial and municipal lev

Health committee  Very briefly, regardless of what goes on...the provinces will always have the flexibility to view this as a guideline. The federal guideline was confusing, because we fit the definition for emergency health responders, yet we were pulled out of it by specifying firefighters separ

Health committee  The percentages can differ, and obviously in a case such as Barrie, which has expanded into a bedroom community of Toronto, and there are still some rural areas serviced, it's probably a little bit higher. In the city of Toronto, where I was a firefighter for 28 years, on averag

Health committee  Further to the same question, there are a number of municipalities in Canada where the paramedic service is administered through the fire department: Winnipeg, Lethbridge, and Strathcona County in Alberta. Those are the examples that spring to mind. An interesting situation hap

Health committee  I think it would make it so much easier for us if, for instance, some provincial jurisdiction stated that they were not going to provide firefighters with the vaccine even though the guideline suggested they should. We would be looking for some sort of rationale to back that up.

Health committee  If there is a reason why the firefighters aren't in the same situation, then obviously the jurisdiction would be able to make that decision and justify it.