November 4, 2008

The Hon. Peter Van Loan
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Van Loan,

Congratulations on your re-election as MP for York-Simcoe and your appointment as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. I know that the best interests of your constituents and of all Canadians will be your guide as you carry out your important duties during the 40th Session of Parliament.

The International Association of Fire Fighters represents more than 20,000 professional fire fighters in Canada. Our members protect the lives of more than 80 per cent of Canadians and the property and infrastructure in 170 of the largest cities and towns across eight provinces and two territories.

In addition to fighting fires and conducting rescue, our members are the first response to emergency medical calls across Canada and we are the nation’s first line of defence in any emergency, whether it is a fire, explosion or a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident. Fire fighters are on scene in minutes in any emergency, large or small.

Public safety is a top issue for Canadians in this age, and rightly so. The feeling that we are safe and secure in our homes, in our streets and in our communities is one that all Canadians cherish. Too often though, the discussion about public safety is limited to the discussion of guns, gangs and crime. I trust that as the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness you will recognize that fire protection is a critical element of public safety, and that fire fighters are a critical element in emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation.

As you know, the IAFF conducts a grassroots legislative affairs program that makes the Government of Canada and individual members of parliament aware of issues in the federal jurisdiction that are important to professional fire fighters.

Through this program, we have cultivated a positive relationship with the federal government in recent years and together we have advanced a number of critically important issues. Most recently, the Conservative government announced that it will fund the IAFF’s Hazardous Materials and CBRN Response training programs in the amount of $2.5 million over five years.

The IAFF remains grateful for this funding and I am pleased to report that training for first responders has already occurred using these funds, and we are positioned to meet our goal of training over 1,600 fire fighters, police officers and paramedics annually to respond safely and effectively to incidents of a CBRN nature.

A top priority of the IAFF at the federal level in Canada is the establishment of a national Public Safety Officer Compensation (PSOC) benefit for the families of fallen fire fighters. Currently, the federal government does nothing to recognize the sacrifice made by fallen fire fighters, and nothing to ensure the financial security of a family that has lost a primary breadwinner.

Some Canadian fire fighters have been able to negotiate a line of duty death benefit at the local level, but these benefits typically amount to two years’ salary, which is enough to keep the surviving family in the family home for two years. This is not sufficient recognition of a sacrifice made on behalf of the public; a sacrifice that is made on behalf of all Canadians.

The IAFF is asking for a national PSOC benefit in the form of a $300,000 payment directly to the surviving family. The United States has had a national Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) in place since 1976. The U.S. PSOB amount currently stands at $315,746.

The IAFF calls on the federal government to establish a national PSOC benefit as a way to recognize the sacrifice of a fallen fire fighter on behalf of all Canadians and as a means of ensuring that the family of a fallen fire fighter does not have to endure financial hardship.

Motion M-153, which provided the opinion that the Canadian government should establish a line of duty death benefit for fire fighters, was adopted in the House of Commons in October, 2005 by a vote of 161 to 112, a clear indication that a majority of MPs representing a majority of Canadians believe the benefit should be established.

An IAFF Canada Legislative Fact Sheet regarding this issue is enclosed for more information about this important issue.

In addition, the IAFF is asking for the establishment of a national office for fire service statistics.

Through Statistics Canada, the federal government does an excellent job of tracking national crime and justice statistics on an annual basis. The allows public safety stakeholders including law enforcement agencies, governments and the public, to track emerging trends in crime and allocate resources and attention accordingly. The same is true for diseases such as West Nile Virus, which Health Canada tracks and reports on annually in order to give local medical officials the information they need to inform and protect their local citizens accordingly.

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. An IAFF research investigation in late 2006 discovered the shocking truth that most provinces’ statistics are several years out of date.

For example, in December 2006, the most recent fire statistics available from British Columbia were from 2000; the province’s 2001 to 2003 statistics were released in 2007. Only two provinces, Ontario and Manitoba, had any information available from 2005, and a few provinces had information from 2004. The rest could only report numbers from five or more years ago.

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 your department as well as Industry Canada, which has responsibility for Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. I have also enclosed an IAFF Canada Legislative Fact Sheet regarding this issue for further information.

The IAFF will be raising these and other issues in the federal arena throughout the 40th Session of Parliament. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in Ottawa to discuss these issues face to face and answer any questions that you might have.

In addition, the IAFF will be holding our 16th Canadian Legislative Conference in April, 2009 in Ottawa. During the conference, professional fire fighters from across Canada will be coming to Ottawa to meet with their MPs to discus these and other issues of importance. I expect that many of your parliamentary colleagues will ask you to act on fire fighter issues as a direct result of this conference and I appreciate the attention and consideration you will give them in advance.

Please do not hesitate to contact the IAFF Canadian Office anytime we can be of assistance to you during the 40th Session of Parliament, or if you would like to meet with me to discuss issues of importance to Canada’s professional fire fighters. In the meantime, congratulations again on your re-election and your appointment and best of luck with your duties.

Sincerely yours,

Jim Lee
Assistant to the General President for Canadian Operations