17th Canadian Legislative Conference is April 25-28, 2010 in Ottawa

January 26, 2010 -- Canada’s IAFF members will bring a list of key issues forward April 25-28, 2010 when the 17th Canadian Legislative Conference takes place in Ottawa.

The need for a national Public Safety Officer Compensation (PSOC) benefit remains atop the IAFF’s Canadian legislative agenda. The IAFF is asking the federal government to establish the benefit in the amount of $300,000 as a one-time, direct payment to the families of fire fighters who are killed or permanently injured in the line of duty.

Other key issues include the need for a national office for fire service statistics, the need for changes to the National Building Code of Canada to improve fire fighter safety and the need for third-party investigations of fire fighter line-of-duty deaths.

Delegates will also be asking the Canadian government to specify in the national pandemic plan that fire fighters should have priority access to available vaccines and antivirals in the event of an influenza pandemic.

Detailed information about conference registration, hotel reservations and the issues on the IAFF’s 2010 Canadian Legislative Agenda will be mailed to affiliate presidents and secretaries in the coming weeks.

All members of Parliament and senators will receive a copy of the IAFF Canada 2010 Legislative Briefing Book in advance of the conference, so that they will be knowledgeable about IAFF legislative issues before meeting with fire fighters.

This year’s edition of the Canadian Legislative Conference will feature an orientation session for new delegates, guest speakers, an issues focus session and the IAFF Parliamentary Reception.

In 2009, a record 140 delegates met with more than 150 members of Parliament to discuss the IAFF Canadian legislative agenda. Guest speakers included Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and keynote speaker Sheila Copps.

The IAFF’s Canadian legislative program has delivered tremendous results in recent years in the form of pension reform, Criminal Code amendments and most recently, $2.5 million in federal funding to conduct the IAFF Haz-Mat and CBRN training programs in Canada over five years.

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