| Liberals
and NDP Attempt to Kill MPP Arnott’s
Volunteer Fire Fighters Bill 30
Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott’s bill to protect
the right to be a volunteer fire fighter faced an unusual
vote in the Ontario Legislature on October 23rd. It
happened during a normally routine proceeding when his
amended Bill was sent back to the House from a Committee
in order to be considered for a Third Reading debate
and vote. The Liberal and NDP opposition together attempted
to kill the Bill by voting to prevent the House from
accepting it in its amended form. Their attempt failed,
after a close 41-38 vote in favour of Mr. Arnott’s Bill.
The
Bill had been amended in an attempt to address some
of the concerns of the majority of the stakeholders
who made their presentations to the Standing Committee
on Justice and Social Policy.
Bill
30, the Volunteer Fire Fighters Employment Protection
Act, is Mr. Arnott’s proposal to support ‘double hatter’
fire fighters. Double hatter fire fighters are usually
full-time fire fighters who work for a city department,
but also want to serve as volunteer fire fighters in
their off-hours in their nearby home communities.
In
some cases recently, the professional fire fighters’
union has been threatening these fire fighters with
the loss of their full-time jobs if they refuse to quit
as volunteers. The loss of these double hatters would
severely weaken volunteer fire fighters across Ontario.
Mr. Arnott’s Bill 30 protects these fire fighters and
the double hatters’ right to volunteer.
“I
have the highest respect for all our fire fighters,
but on this issue the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters
Association’s leadership is dead wrong. Nobody should
be intimidated, charged and face the possible loss of
their full time job for being a volunteer fire fighter,”
declared Mr. Arnott.
“I
am very disappointed that the Liberals and NDP have
taken this unusual step to attempt to kill Bill 30 by
trying to prevent the Committee from reporting the Bill
back to the House after public hearings. Perhaps the
opposition parties feel intimidated as well, but whatever
the reason, they are letting Ontario’s volunteer fire
fighters down,” he added.
MPPs
at the Standing Committee on Justice and Social Policy
amended the Bill based on presentations made by groups
including the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office, the Fire
Fighters Association of Ontario, the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario, the Ontario Association of
Fire Chiefs, individual municipalities, and concerned
individuals. Of the witnesses who made presentations,
union representatives were the only ones opposed.
The
presenters to the Committee put forward strong support
for the bill and hailed Mr. Arnott’s efforts to protect
public safety and the right to volunteer. Mayor Carol
Seglins of the Town of Caledon said the following:
“I’d
like to formally acknowledge the work of Mr. Ted Arnott,
MPP, Waterloo-Wellington, who has had the courage and
really recognized the significance for municipalities
such as ours to bring forward the proposed legislation.”
Ontario
Fire Marshall Bernard Moyle’s presentation to the Committee
on Mr. Arnott’s Bill declared that legislated protection
for double hatters is needed:
“In
conclusion, there is a provincial and public interest
in protecting two-hatters who wish to serve as volunteer
firefighters. We do not believe that a non-legislated
solution is achievable or enforceable,” he said.
Mr.
Arnott will be working with Government House Leader
Chris Stockwell to push to have Bill 30 called for Third
Reading debate.
“There
are no guarantees, but I am hopeful that this bill is
getting the support that it needs to pass in the Ontario
Legislature and I will do everything that I can to see
that this happens as soon as possible,” Mr. Arnott stated.
While
Private Member’s Bills seldom pass in to law, Mr. Arnott
has had some success in this regard in the past. In
1998 he introduced a Private Member’s Bill to address
the need for proper compensation, in the event of injury,
for volunteer firefighters. Soon afterwards, his Bill
was adopted as Government legislation, and was passed
in to law. In 1994, he introduced a bill that would
allow volunteer fire fighters to use a flashing green
light on their personal vehicles when responding to
an emergency. This Private Member’s Bill passed into
law – a rarity for an opposition member, which he was
at the time.
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