IAFF CANADA 2009 LEGISLATIVE FACT SHEET
The Need to Establish a
National Office for Fire Statistics
Background
All Canadians are deserving of an equitable and effective level of
fire protection in their communities. By the same token, all Canadian
fire fighters are deserving of equal protections against the dangers
they face on a daily basis. The only way to measure whether this is
being achieved in Canada is with reliable, comprehensive, national
statistics that use standardized reporting criteria, in the same way
that federal departments and agencies collect information about other
important public safety issues.
For example, issues relating to crime and justice in Canada are
addressed through detailed statistical reports released annually by
Statistics Canada. This authoritative and national statistical
collection serves the public as well as the law enforcement community as
it gives the ability to accurately identify the state of crime in Canada
and track emerging trends in crime and justice. This in turn enables the
public and law enforcement professionals to properly advocate for their
own safety, and allows law enforcement officials to direct resources
where they are needed most.
Similarly, Health Canada, a federal department, has taken the
responsibility of tracking national statistical information on West Nile
Virus every year in Canada in order to learn about the scope of the
disease, to identify problem areas and to ensure that local health
officials have the information they need to adequately protect local
citizens from this danger. Information about several other diseases is
also tracked by Health Canada.
But when it comes to fire protection and other elements of emergency
response, there is no equivalent in terms of comprehensive, complete
national fire service statistics. There is no useful annual report
issued by a government department or agency, and no national
organization or agency with the mandate and the resources to collect,
analyze and disseminate complete fire service statistics.
Reliable national fire statistics for Canada are impossible if even
one province or territory’s statistics, as collected by the office of
its fire marshal or fire commissioner, are unavailable or out of date.
The truth is that many provinces’ statistics are out of date. For
example, in February 2009, some provinces had statistics available only
from 2006 or earlier. In British Columbia, selected fire loss statistics
up to 2007 were individually available upon request, but the last year
for which fire statistics were compiled and published in a report was
2003.
In the past, there was an attempt to compile national fire loss
statistics through a group called the Council of Canadian Fire Marshals
and Fire Commissioners, or CCFM&FC. This group consists of the appointed
fire marshal or commissioner in each province and territory. With the
assistance of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC),
this group reported national fire loss statistics. But the figures were
not reliable, as they were incomplete, woefully out of date and they did
not encompass a full range of issues relating to the fire service and
public safety.
In early 2009, the latest information available in a fire loss report
from the CCFM&FC is from 2002, and data from two provinces is completely
missing. What is the real number of Canadian fire fighters who died in
the line of duty in 2002, or any other year? No one has ever properly
counted. What is the national average in terms of fire department or EMS
response time in Canada? These important numbers are unknown.
This is unlike the situation in the United States, where a single
government agency – the United States Fire Administration (USFA) -
collects, analyzes and disseminates a full range of national statistics
on the fire service each year. This is done through a system called
NFIRS, which stands for National Fire Incident Reporting System. NFIRS
utilizes a standard, national reporting system for tracking fire
incidents in over 20,000 U.S. fire departments. The USFA also
administers a National Fire Data Center, which has the specific mandate
to operate the National Fire Data Center for the collection, analysis,
publication, dissemination and marketing of information related to the
Nation’s fire problem and USFA programs, manage USFA research efforts in
fire detection, prevention, suppression and first responder health,
safety and effectiveness.
The ability to properly address the state of fire protection in
Canada, including public and fire fighter safety, does not reliably
exist due to the fact that there is no single, national entity with the
responsibility of tracking fire service and emergency response
statistics.
In January 2009, two private members’ motions addressing this
important issue were introduce in the House of Commons. M-96, introduced
by NDP MP Irene Mathyssen (London-Fanshawe, Ont.) and M-249, from NDP MP
Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.), both call on the federal
government to establish a mechanism for the collection, analysis and
reporting of comprehensive national fire services statistics on an
annual basis, in order to advance public and fire fighter safety.
The IAFF will fully support M-96 and M-249 should either be drawn to
proceed in the legislative process, as we would support any other
legislative initiative that addresses this important issue at a national
level.
Cost
The IAFF agrees that it is fair to consider the question of cost with
this issue as it is with any legislative demand. The cost of
establishing a national office for fire statistics would be unknown
until the potential model has been decided, for example whether the
function could be performed with existing resources within the federal
government and whether previously-budgeted funds could be reallocated
toward this need. At the same time, the IAFF asserts that money should
not be the overriding factor when it comes to public and fire fighter
safety.
IAFF Position
The IAFF asserts that in the name of public and fire fighter safety,
the federal government should assign the responsibility of collecting,
analyzing and disseminating national fire service and emergency response
statistics to a federal department or agency, and that a reliable annual
report of national fire statistics for Canada should be made available
to all fire service stakeholders and to the public.
This responsibility could be given to or shared among any number of
federal departments or agencies, including Industry Canada, which has
responsibility for Statistics Canada; Human Resources and Skills
Development Canada, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Labour
Canada.
IAFF Arguments
- All Canadians are deserving of equitable levels
of fire protection and public safety
- Detailed national statistics are used to address
a wide range of crime and public health issues in Canada
- There is currently nothing available in terms of
comprehensive national fire service statistics in Canada
- The need to establish a Canadian office for
national fire service statistics has also been expressed by other
fire service stakeholders such the Canadian Association of Fire
Chiefs (CAFC), the standards industry and the scientific community
- The U.S. recognizes this need and serves the
public and fire service stakeholders with a National Fire Incident
Reporting System and National Fire Data Center
Current Status
There is currently nothing available in terms of up to date,
reliable, annual fire service and emergency response statistics in
Canada. In the name of public and fire fighter safety, the IAFF calls on
the federal government to assign this responsibility of annually
collecting, analyzing and disseminating comprehensive, national fire
statistics to a competent department or agency.
For more information about this issue or any other
issue affecting Canada’s professional fire fighters, visit www.iaff.org/canada
or contact the IAFF Canadian Office at (613) 567-8988. The International
Association of Fire Fighters represents 293,000 professional fire
fighters in North America, including over 20,500 in Canada. The IAFF is
affiliated with the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress.
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