Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am honoured to have the opportunity to share with the committee our views on this timely and important subject. By way of background, the International Association of Fire Fighters represents more than 23,000 full-time professional firefighters in Canada

Public Safety committee  What the federal government is doing to date is beginning to reduce the stigma and foster that type of relationship. One of the keys to this moving forward, and certainly what we've asked for at the federal level, is to have that all-encompassing plan. We know that, as this moves

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. There's a gap in all fire services data. I know the fire chiefs have worked very hard to build a dataset to start to incorporate not only fire statistics, but the health and wellness statistics for firefighters. We certainly have a gap compared with the U.S., in that

Public Safety committee  I don't know that they're captured, to be honest with you.

Public Safety committee  I think it's a great point. As we've been suggesting, I think the key to this is, number one, breaking down the stigma. The more we talk about it and the more information we get out there, the more likely we are to build and understand specific individuals. On the broader concep

Public Safety committee  As we go forward and look at the different options that become available, what you're saying is absolutely true. It not only exists within mental health wellness, it similarly affects those same communities sometimes in public health initiatives. In Saskatchewan a program was ini

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.

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

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

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  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  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