- Hub staff

At a special meeting this evening, Owen Sound City Council unanimously approved a motion to reduce Owen Sound Fire Services minimum on-duty fire suppression staff from 5 to 4 – one Captain and three fire fighters.

Approximately 60% of all calls currently require three or fewer firefighters to respond, and 2nd and 3rd alarm calls will continue to bring in stand-by platoons, all other available full-time firefighters and the Inter-township and other neighbouring fire departments as required.

John Saunders, Senior Labour and Employment Lawyer who has represented the City of Owen Sound in negotiations with its Professional Firefighters Association, said the current minimum staffing clause was written into the collective agreement years ago. In his opinion, it would never be removed in contract negotiations, but could be changed in the interest arbitration process.

Saunders said that it is the responsibility of council to decide on the level of fire service the municipality will provide. Councillor Richard Thomas said the staffing clause in the collective agreement had essentially driven that decision.

One of the seventy or so pieces of legislation affected by the provincial government's omnibus Bill 57 last November was the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA). According to Saunders, the changes have given smaller Ontario municipalities a “new set of tools” for dealing with collective bargaining and interest arbitration with their professional fire fighters.

Owen Sound currently pays the second-highest per capita ($213) for fire services among municipalities under 30,000 population. Only Brockville pays more. Brockville also has a full professional fire department with a staffing clause in their collective agreement.

Councillor John Tamming, who has been outspoken on this file for many years, said that he was disappointed that KCB, the consultants the City paid $40,000 for their expertise in Fire Services, were not more direct in recommending the staffing reduction. Tamming made it clear that he is still in favour of the City working toward a composite fire department, but he was pleased with these first small steps.

Consultants, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Clark and Council members all confirmed their confidence in the expert skills and training of Owen Sound's professional firefighters.