Fire Fighter Among Winners in Canada's October 14 Election

Members of IAFF Local 162 in Ottawa supported the successful re-election bid of Liberal Member of Parliament David McGuinty, in the red vest. From left to right in the gold and black shirts are Local 162 Political Action Committee Chairman John Sobey and Local Executive members Barry Quinn, Erik Leicht and Mike Knoefler.

October 23, 2008 --  The IAFF is offering congratulations to all political parties and to all members of Parliament (MPs) elected in Canada’s October 14 federal election, while preparing to ensure that fire fighter issues will be front and centre again when the new session of Parliament begins this fall.

Canada’s Conservative minority government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was returned to power as a result of the vote. Among successful election candidates was Glen Pearson, a former London, Ontario, fire fighter and member of London, ON Local 142. Pearson, who sits as a Liberal Party MP, was first elected to the House of Commons representing London North-Centre in a by-election in November 2006.

The New Democratic Party, a perennial ally of the IAFF, gained seven seats in the House of Commons and now fields 37 members of Parliament. Led by Jack Layton, the NDP has been a consistently strong supporter of the IAFF’s Canadian Legislative Agenda, and its members have introduced numerous pieces of fire fighter legislation in the past decade.

In advance of the election, each Canadian affiliate received an electronic copy of the IAFF Canada 2008 Federal Election Strategy, which included useful information about local political action initiatives, such as candidate endorsement, during the election campaign.

In keeping with the IAFF’s bipartisan philosophy, local affiliates were welcome to locally endorse candidates from any political party, as long as they were certain the candidate was committed to looking closely at the IAFF’s Canadian legislative agenda if elected and supporting IAFF issues in the House of Commons.

Countless IAFF locals across Canada were indeed politically active during the federal election campaign, mainly by identifying, endorsing and working for fire fighter-friendly candidates.

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger commends Canadian locals for being politically active during the federal election. “This was an example of political action at its best, an example of actively supporting those who support us, regardless of party affiliation,” he says. “This sets the stage perfectly for our next Canadian Legislative Conference.”

The IAFF is prepared to work with members of Parliament from all parties in order to advance the Canadian legislative agenda, and the minority status of the government won’t stand in the way of the legislative progress. In 2007, under the previous Conservative minority government, $1 million in funding for the IAFF Hazardous Materials and CBRN Response Training programs in Canada was announced, an amount subsequently raised to $2.5 million over five years.

The 16th Canadian Legislative Conference will take place in spring 2009. The IAFF will announce the exact dates for the conference to all Canadian affiliates shortly after the new parliamentary calendar is determined.

The need to establish a national Public Safety Officer Compensation (PSOC) benefit in Canada remains atop the IAFF’s federal legislative agenda, along with the need to establish a national office for fire service statistics and Canada Pension Plan reform for fire fighters.

The IAFF anticipates bringing forward two new secondary issues in 2009: the need to conduct third-party investigations of fire fighter line-of-duty deaths and the need to address problems with Canada’s National Building Code that potentially put fire fighters at risk.