TAY REPORT NOVEMBER 18, 2009

It is better late than never! The province has finally announced a new regulation that will allow the province’s nearly 10,000 volunteer firefighters to qualify for benefits.

The new regulation presumes that seven types of cancer that are suffered by Volunteer Firefighters in Ontario would be work-related, unless proven otherwise. Heart disease (within 24 hours of fighting a fire or participating in a training exercise involving a simulated fire emergency) would also be included.

The same presumptions had already applied to full-time firefighters in Ontario. The new regulation also applies to fire investigators from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.

You may recall that in September, I had the opportunity along with Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, to question the Minister of Labour’s failed commitment to cover volunteer firefighters with the same workers’ compensation coverage already in place for full-time firefighters.

In May 2007 the Minister of Labour introduced presumptive legislation that was unanimously passed by all parties, which would give full-time firefighters the protection they requested.  The government committed to include volunteer firefighters in the future. Now 30 months later than their promise, it is finally happening. The Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and NDP all agreed to pass presumptive legislation in 2007 and we did the whole thing in five minutes, wanting to get volunteers covered. I think the government was basically embarrassed into supporting the volunteer firefighters.

It shows that we, as opposition, are effective.

Rural Ontario volunteer firefighters and their families deserve the respect and commitment from their government that they have earned by protecting their communities.