| MPP
Arnott Continues With Action to Support Volunteer Fire
Departments
Encouraged by the report of Justice George Adams to
the Ontario Government, Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted
Arnott has introduced Private Member’s Bill 130, the
Volunteer Fire Fighters Employment Protection Act. The
Bill is identical in principle to his amended Bill 30
and it supports volunteer fire departments by protecting
the right of full-time fire fighters to serve as volunteer
fire fighters. Mr. Arnott introduced Bill 130 on June
26th, the same day that Minister of Public Safety and
Security, Bob Runciman, released the Adams report that
recommends some protections for these “double hatter”
fire fighters.
“I
think Justice Adams has arrived at a solution similar
in intent to what my original Bill 30 proposed, namely,
that the Government should take legal steps to protect
the right of professional firefighters to serve as volunteers,
on their free time in their home communities. Unions
should not be permitted to force fire fighters to quit
their volunteer posts. That was the key principle in
my Bill 30, which I introduced last year. With Bill
130, I plan to continue to support the right to serve
as a volunteer fire fighter in the Province of Ontario,”
Mr. Arnott declared.
The
Adams report proposes that “…volunteering consistent
with the regulation would become a lawful right and
any attempt to remove a volunteer’s full-time employment
because of such volunteering would be contrary to the
law.” The report recommends full protection for double
hatter fire fighters in purely volunteer departments
and placing limits on the number of double hatter volunteers
that may serve in composite departments or those that
have both full-time and volunteer fire fighters. The
Minister of Public Safety and Security has asked for
the stakeholders to provide him with their written feedback
by the end of August 2003.
Mr.
Arnott had initially introduced Bill 30 to protect double
hatter fire fighters from actions by their unions who
were forcing them to quit their volunteer posts. Although
defeated at Third Reading on December the 11th, 2002,
his bill had the support of more than two thirds of
the Conservative MPPs present and was debated for a
total of seven hours – which was an unprecedented amount
of time for debate on a Private Member’s Bill at the
Legislature going back to 1950. In January, the Eves
Government initiated an attempt to solve the problem
by announcing that Justice George Adams would facilitate
talks among stakeholders and provide a report.
In
this year’s Provincial budget, the Government also made
a commitment to provide $40 million to help small town
and rural fire services purchase new equipment. On June
24th, two days before he introduced Bill 130 and the
Adams report was released, Mr. Arnott raised this funding
program during Question Period with the Minister of
Public Safety and Security.
Mr.
Arnott mentioned requests that had been brought forward
by the Township of Wellesley and the Fire Department
in Wilmot who are interested in applying for funding
to improve fire services. The Minister acknowledged
Mr. Arnott’s dedication to volunteer fire fighters in
Ontario and indicated that his Ministry hoped to have
the funding processes and criteria for the funds ready
in the next two to three months.
“I
believe that it is absolutely essential that the Government
move forward and take action to protect double hatter
fire fighters and deliver on its funding commitment
for fire departments in small towns and rural communities.
That way we will appropriately recognize and support
the work that volunteer fire fighters do to keep our
communities safe,” Mr. Arnott concluded.
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