Finance committee  I'm happy to. It's one of the things people need to understand about the fire service and how we tie into the economic infrastructure of society. One of the mistakes the fire service made a number of years ago was that we were always talking about fires as losses. When we have a

Finance committee  The program was first created in 2009 and we got five-year funding. Since that time we continue to get renewals based on one- and two-year renewal periods. The last renewal brought us funding from April 1, 2017, and it will expire on March 31 of next year.

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to share my views with the committee on behalf of the International Association of Fire Fighters. We represent over 25,000 men and women in 185 cities and towns across nine provinces and two territories. We are the first line of defence in the event

Natural Resources committee  Well, our overriding concern with the National Building Code is the fact that fire safety is not an objective of the code. For instance, as we have proceeded over the last 10 to 15 years, we have been trying to get firefighter safety added as an objective of the code. The problem

Natural Resources committee  The potential and the concern exist today, the difference being that there are more materials used to protect the underlying wood products. For instance, there was a lot of discussion on whether a stairwell or an elevator shaft should be required to remain made out of concrete or

Natural Resources committee  As I said, even in response to Mr. Garis' quote, theoretically, and certainly based on the codes and everything, I would agree with your statement. The concern we have is that the building is never modified, never changed, or if those things happen, that all the same kinds of saf

Natural Resources committee  Mass timber does react differently from traditional wood-frame construction, but with mass timber, there's combustibility potential there as opposed to steel or concrete.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, response times, the number of personnel you're getting at the scene.... It's even dependent on what resources they have available to them. The problem does exist. The simple fact in this country is that there is no required response capability for municipal fire departments,

Natural Resources committee  Yes. Most fire department budgets are predominantly made up of the wages that go to the employees. When they start cutting fire department budgets, it comes down to one thing. It's personnel.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I'm very aware of Fire Chief Garis's view on the subject. I would not disagree with the statement he made there, which was that once these buildings are made, their fire safety performance is equal. Where I think Mr. Garis and I would differ is with regard to his belief that

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to share our views on Mr. Canning's Bill C-354 today. It's a pleasure for the International Association of Fire Fighters to return to this committee after our appearance in December. To briefly introduce our organization, the IAFF repres

Public Safety committee  I think there likely are grassroots successes. There's not a week goes by that I don't get a call at my office from some group, whether they be retired police officers or within the community or within the mental health community, who have started a process on how to deal with th

Public Safety committee  I think you named some of the factors there in shift work and in the cumulative effects. As far as the workplace itself, there are some issues based on traditions within the fire service. It's no different from the police services or the armed forces. You have a service that ha

Public Safety committee  I don't have anything specific, but I know there is a study being looked at by a sociology professor out of Winnipeg who is looking specifically at that issue. I can't speak to it, though.

Public Safety committee  I think our organization is struggling in the same sense as this country. We have the same issues here. There are studies out there. I don't think in the U.S. they're any farther ahead on understanding these issues.