INNISFAIL – After almost 14 months of anger and frustration with the community's volunteer firefighting crew over poor communication with the town there is now peace between both sides.
Town council unanimously approved a new fire department remuneration policy on Nov. 14 to replace the one that was put in place almost a year ago and amended last March, a document vehemently opposed by firefighters, largely because they felt left out of any meaningful communication process.
“I think the big thing is that the new CAO (Todd Becker) sat down with the fire chief, and fire department members – senior officers, and we talked and had some good discussions and worked through our differences and we have come to an agreement,” said Tim Ainscough, the fire department's assistant deputy chief, who has been the firefighters' primary voice since former fire chief Dean Clark was fired 14 months ago, and a revised remuneration policy put in place shortly after. “Council has ratified that (new policy) and now we want to put this behind us and move on.”
At the Nov. 14 regular council meeting, Gary Leith, the department's fire chief, presented council with the replacement policy that now overrides the one first brought to the previous council almost a year ago, and later amended.
“It has been publicly (known) that there has been recent challenges between the town and fire department and the new policy is anticipated to assist in resolving the differences,” Leith told council. “Town administration and fire department executive have met on several occasions to better understand the challenges and to see a go forward plan based on transparency and mutual respect.”
The new policy offers few substantive changes from the one the previous council approved and made effective on Jan. 1 and later amended on March 27. The remuneration rates for all firefighters, from probationary firefighter to deputy chief, remain essentially the same, as does the compensation for completion of certified courses. However, firefighters now have it in writing they will be paid monthly, which was not stipulated in the amended March 27 policy, and frustrated many on the 28-member firefighting team.
Leith told council the new policy would still stay within the fire department's current budget.
Ainscough said the key success of the new policy going forward was the willingness of administration to open the door to improved communication between the town and its volunteer firefighters.
“I think communication is the biggest thing. That open communication was there when it wasn't previously. That open communication is very important to the membership,” said Ainscough, adding the success of the new policy is largely due to the efforts of both Becker and Leith.
Becker, who has made it a priority to reach out to disgruntled citizens and groups since been hired last summer, said the effort to reach an agreement on an updated policy was not a matter of who won or who lost but putting all the issues on the table and moving forward for the benefit of the community.
“What are the challenges, what are the solutions and move forward. That sounds pretty simple, but that's what it really was,” said Becker, who gave credit to Leith and the leadership team of the fire department for their willingness and openness to resolve contentious issues. “We just need to be open minded to be able to identify the issues and work towards solutions. The longer they fester the bigger the challenge it is to rectify.”
In the meantime, Mayor Jim Romane agreed the deal reached between the once disgruntled firefighters and the town should be welcomed by the community as a good start for a healing process to the controversies that troubled the town since the fall of last year.
“We still have to prove we are genuine about things, but golly I think it is a good start, and I'm really happy that we were able to get some good resolution to concerns that our volunteers had with the fire department as well,” said Romane. “A volunteer fire department is just so valuable to the community. You just can't put it into words how much they do for the community. These guys are just ready to risk arm and leg for a few bucks. You have to give them credit.”
Gary Leith, fire chief
"It has been publicly (known) that there has been recent challenges between the town and fire department and the new policy is anticipated to assist in resolving the differences."
