A proposed bill before the Alberta legislature is getting the hose down from Alberta’s fire chiefs.
Bill 201 — the Employment Standards (Firefighter Leave) Amendment Act — is now in the hands of the Standing Committee on Alberta’s Economic Future. The bill is meant to protect firefighters and boost recruitment efforts, with the committee looking for the public’s input.
Bill 201 would provide part-time (volunteer and paid-on call) firefighters with occasional leave in order to assist with fire calls, while prohibiting their employers — without good cause — from preventing them to do that job if the employer informed of this duty. Employers would also not be allowed to refuse employment to someone because they are a part-time firefighter. In addition, this leave would be recognized as unpaid and would start next Jan. 1 if the bill is passed in the legislature this fall.
The committee is presently accepting submissions and one of those against the bill might be a bit surprising.
In a release last week, the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA) explained the group doesn’t support the proposed legislation as it’s written right now.
“While it seeks to achieve a certain outcome, it undermines other values that are of greater importance. The AFCA believes that this legislation will hurt the very backbone of community support for the volunteer fire service by forcing compliance of small businesses that, in great measure, support their staff who have volunteered to serve their community through their volunteer firefighting roles,” stated AFCA president Peter Krich in the release.
“It is in the best interests of the volunteer firefighters, the small businesses and the municipalities to discuss extraordinary requirements that may be made of a volunteer firefighter — such as deployment to a major provincial incident such as the Fort McMurray wildfire. In many cases, employers stood beside their employees by releasing them to deploy while carrying their salaries and hiring substitute workers. This must be a mutual decision, led by the leadership of the municipality, the fire department, the family and the business.”
The release further points out that each municipality should be allowed to establish and maintain the positive relationships that have been forged over the past many years with the local employers and the local volunteer firefighters through focusing on a common need and a common approach.
“Legislation should be enacted to achieve a common good and the AFCA believes that the government must focus on legislation at the highest level of governance first. Alberta does not have any overarching legislation addressing the need for a fire service. To respond to isolated incidents such as that which triggered this bill is not in the greatest interest of Albertans,” Krich noted in the release.
For it’s part, the government feels the bill is important in continuing to best protect communities.
“Firefighters provide a critical role in the safety and well-being of all Albertans. Bill 201 impacts nearly every Albertan, not only part-time firefighters but also their families, employers and the communities that they serve,” said Graham Sucha, committee chair and NDP MLA for Calgary-Shaw in a statement.
“It is important for this committee to hear from those most closely affected by the review of this bill.”
The deadline for written submissions on the bill is June 6. More information on the bill, committee and how to make a submission is available by going to www.assembly.ab.ca/committees/abeconomicfuture.
Once the committee has considered all submissions, it will submit a report to the legislature with opinions and recommendations.