13th District Report

In accordance with the provisions of Article VI, Section 7, of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Constitution and By-Laws, I respectfully submit this report of my activity as the 13th District Vice President to General President Edward Kelly, General Secretary-Treasurer Frank Lima, the IAFF Executive Board, IAFF Trustees, and all officers and delegates in attendance at the 58th Convention in Arlington, Texas, United States.

This report contains a summary of my activities and those across the District from May 2024 through to May 2026. Unfortunately, in April 2025 I was diagnosed with cancer and following treatments that lasted through December, I was informed that I required a hip replacement. As a result, I was unable to attend all Executive Board meetings in person from June 2025 until March 2026. Also, I could not attend IAFF or provincial events. I did, however, attend virtually wherever possible. I would like to personally thank Carmen Santoro, AGP for IAFF Canadian Operations, and my DFSR, Mike Palachik, who largely picked up the necessary servicing of our affiliates during my absence.

The (“Lucky”) 13th District proudly represents over 14,000 IAFF members (both active and active-retired) across Ontario, Manitoba, and the Territory of Nunavut, Canada. A good portion of my time is taken by providing advice and guidance, advocacy both locally and provincially, and coordinating our incredible depth of services for our affiliates. I am very appreciative of all our staff and divisions in Washington and Ottawa, and my cadre of Service Representatives for the wide variety of support and dedication they have illustrated to get the job done.

Compliance

Across the District, I have focused on affiliates meeting the four pillars of ‘compliance’ with the IAFF. Those being; paying per capita, Constitution and By-laws reviews and approvals, Local financial reports, and submitting their collective agreements.

We have taken a very proactive approach to Constitution and By-laws reviews by working through amendments in advance of submitting them to the IAFF with a goal of receiving an approval letter without required or recommended changes.

We have seen a good uptick on the Local financial reporting and the submitting of collective agreements.

Fortunately, with employer payroll deduction and mandatory membership requirements in all collective agreements, our Locals receive their dues monthly directly from the employer. Almost all affiliates are on an electronic method of IAFF per capita payment. This has resulted in very few delinquent affiliates at any time.

Politics

With the 2023 election of the NDP to a majority government in Manitoba, it has opened a number of doors for our affiliates to make gains both locally and provincially.

First, our Thompson Local, which has long been dealing with chronic understaffing, overtime burnout, and doing all they can to provide top level EMS and fire service to their community. Thompson is a remote northern community in Manitoba, which presents its challenges, but with a new provincial government and an indigenous premier, there is a renewed focus on Thompson and other similar communities that have largely been ignored by previous governments.

The town’s Mayor decided to call in the provincial government by stating that they were no longer going to provide EMS and focus strictly on the delivery of fire service for the community, and transfer back EMS to the province. We knew this would not be a good thing for the community or our members in that Local, but understood that it had to come to this point to force change.

Fortunately, with a previous relationship with the Minister responsible for EMS delivery in the province, we were able to negotiate an agreement whereby the province would provide long-awaited funding for more staff and incentives for people to remain in Thompson within our service. This increase will allow more EMS personnel to be on duty 24/7 and upstaff more fire personnel as well. The result is an increase in daily minimum staffing from 6 to 15 with a mix of single role fire fighters and EMS and cross-trained members as well.

The poker face played by the Mayor turned out to be a great success for our Local and the community… But without the political connections provincially, this deal does not get done.

In Winnipeg, new Local President Nick Kasper was taking a very aggressive stand for more staffing during the municipal council budget process. Utilizing IAFF Strategic Campaigns and the Action Network platform for this political campaign, they did what nobody expected. The Fire Chief and Mayor acknowledged the staffing issues and unheralded overtime (which was having a burnout effect on the members) and proposed a small increase of ten fire fighters and introducing new behavioral health programs.

Président Kasper and his Board keep up the pressure, and with large public support given thanks to their effective campaign, had the majority of the council turn on the Mayor and his executive group to land the support for 82 new fire fighters. This was obviously a big win for the local and the community, but it shows the benefit of using our strategic communication members along with a platform such as Action Network.

Our Brandon Local, which is a cross-train fire/EMS service is, like so many other affiliates, struggling with staffing. With EMS being a provincial responsibility, the money being provided to the city of Brandon in support of the service is lagging. New President Gage Wood took forward an aggressive and impressive campaign locally and publicly. Doing so has brought a focus onto the service and provided a seat at the table for the Local, which they have not had previously.

Gage has a good relationship with the minister of municipal affairs, who is the MLA for Brandon, which has helped push this issue. Using Thompson as the example, we are hopeful that we can make similar gains where there is more provincial funding to provide proper EMS staffing levels and force the City to focus on funding proper fire service staffing. Stay tuned…

Over in Ontario, the Ontario PFFA continues to make good gains with the Ford provincial government. Highlights are as follows:

Highlights also include continued investment in first responder mental health by supporting the construction of the Runneymede facility and continued investment in IAFF FGS training with the Skills Development Fund

The OPFFA continues to make strides in their ‘unified first response’ effort. This is to provide the legislative and funding platforms for municipal fire services to enhance their skills, training, and response to medical events within their communities. The plan is:

At this point, some of these objectives have been achieved and others are very close. When this all comes together it will provide the basis for a real turning point on our industry across Ontario.

Given the success of this relationship, the OPFFA endorsed Premier Doug Ford’s re-election during his snap election call in February of this year. Despite an unfriendly winter environment, the OPFFA amassed many members to pound signs and do the necessary groundwork to support the Ford government to their third majority government.

Employer attack on Union Substitutions

Ironically following the success of the OPFFA at the provincial government level both the Richmond Hill and Clarington employers decided to go after the ability of OPFFA President Greg Horton and S/T Bob McCutcheon to have local union substitutions for their OPFFA business.

The Richmond Hill Local took the matter to a grievance arbitration and were able to mediate a positive settlement allowing President Horton to continue the use of union substitutions in support of his OPFFA work.

The Clarington employer went so far as to threaten Brother McCutheon with termination if he did not cease and desist the use of union substitutions for his OPFFA work. We were successful in that case during mediation as well with a full settlement in favour of Brother McCutcheon.

IAFF Fire Ground Survival Program

With the IAFF’s decision to divest itself of many Fire Ground Survival (FGS) assets, our district’s original truck and trailer went up on the market. We have a buyer for the truck and IAFF staff are still looking for a home for the trailer and props.

This does not spell the end of this program in the District. Given its success with the truck and trailer the OPFFA secured provincial funding for two trailers and trucks to continue this valuable training for our members.

Conversely, the Manitoba provincial government has now provided funding for our Winnipeg Local to operate a new truck and trailer and conduct the training across that province.

IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial

With the continued success of presumptive legislation in the District, our fallen members are well represented at these memorials. With large numbers of honourees and strong family support, we have held large District social events in Colorado Springs following the IAFF service.

Unfortunately, due to my ill health, I was unable to attend the 2025 event.

I would be remiss if I did not raise the change in policy interpretation at the IAFF to define member in strict accordance with the IAFF CBL as ‘active or ‘active-retired’ to be honoured at our ceremonies from 2027 going forward.

I believe the advancements of many of the Canadian coverage laws, which do not have a “look-back” period and allow retired and former members to have claims recognized notwithstanding how long they have been off or retired from the job, have led to confusion that our affiliates are submitting all names.

That is simply not true. I attempted to make an amendment to the policy to define a member as an active member in good standing who has to leave the job due to an occupational disease and later dies from the illness. With that amendment, their death would be recognized as an active member death provided it is accepted as “job-related” by a worker’s compensation board. The same for a member who retires as a member in good standing because our job killed them and they contracted the disease while a dues paying member in both cases.

The Whitby, Ontario Local submitted a resolution to the 2025 IAFF Canadian Policy Conference to maintain recognizing members, both active and former, as per the past more than two decades. That resolution was passed unanimously and will be presented for a final decision by the body gathered at the 58th IAFF Convention in Arlington. I look forward to the debate.

Conclusion

The response to the needs of our affiliates in our District has been nothing short of amazing, and I want to acknowledge our unbelievable staff, both at our Canadian office and our headquarters in Washington DC, for their dedicated service. Without it, we could not do our job in the manner our members expect and deserve.

Again, I want to thank the Service Representatives and my DFSR for the 13th District. So many of you have led by example and put in the hours of dedicated advocacy to assist our local leaders through these tough times. A talented team!

DFSR – Mike Palachik

Service Representatives – Greg Horton, Peter Dyson, Jason Corazza, Dan VanderLelie, Chris Varcoe, Michael Smith, Bob McCutcheon, Colin Hunter, Kevin Meyers, Richard Kelly, Shay Currie, Andrew Anthony, Alex Forrest, Hugh Doherty, Craig Jeffries, and John McGill.

This term has been full of personal challenges, but I am grateful for the support from everyone in the District and at the IAFF. It is always nice to know when you are down that people have your back.

But the most important people who have supported me throughout this have been my wonderful wife, Jackie, and grandson Eli. Their unwavering love and care were an undeniable benefit to me, and I will be forever thankful for their support.