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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, O ct ob er 2 0, 2 01 0 4 By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF They put out fires, they brave smoke filled- buildings to save strangers and lately theyve handed out brochures and erected signs urging residents to re-elect Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and the existing council. The Oakville Professional Firefighters Association (PFFA), which represents about 208 active Oakville firefighters, announced it is endorsing Burton and the rest of council in this election because of the changes this council has made to promote firefighter safety. This current council has worked hard to increase fire protection and public safety in the Town of Oakville and they did that by increasing the number of responding personnel on vehi- cles, said Carmen Santoro, president the Oakville PFFA. These proper response teams meet the cur- rent standards in the fire industry. Under the previous mayor we were stripped of our staffing to the point where we met no standards at all and we are not about to go that way again. Santoro said that before this council there was a rule in place stating only three firefighters could ride on a fire engine. This caused a prob- lem, Santoro said, as standards are in place stat- ing four to six firefighters need to be present at the scene to enter a burning building. We had three on a truck. One was a pump operator, one was the guy in charge and the other person was prepared to go in, but wed have to wait for a second vehicle, maybe even a third vehi- cle before we could do anything, said Santoro. If there was a call that there were possibly people trapped then our guys and me included took unnecessary chances. Fortunately we did- nt lose anybody, but it could have easily hap- pened at any call and we are not about to go back to that type of fire response again. Santoro said the situation was rectified in 2008 when council authorized the hiring of 20 additional firefighters and two additional fire prevention officers. Santoro said this council has also provided Oakville firefighters with thermal imaging equipment and new vehicles. Council also negotiated a 2009-2011 contract agreement with the Oakville PPFA in which fire- fighters got a three per cent wage increase in 2009, again in 2010 and will again in 2011. There is also a parity clause in this contract that says if a Halton Regional Police Service constables pay goes up, the firefighters pay will also go up. The contract also featured salary bumps of three per cent after eight years of service, six per cent after 17 years and nine per cent after 23 years of service. While the Oakville PFFA may appreci- ate what the current council has done, the fact it is now endorsing council is not sitting well with some residents, including Ward 4 town and regional councillor candidate John Foster. Foster was caught off guard when he received an Oakville PFFA flyer, which endorsed the existing council, in the mail. I realize they are delivering this as the fire- fighters association as opposed to the Oakville firefighters, but no one knows the difference, said Foster. For all intents and purposes these are pub- lic employees getting involved politically and thats wrong. Foster also said the firefighters association didnt approach him or, to the best of his knowl- edge, any of the challenging candidates to see what they would do for firefighters, but simply endorsed the incumbents. I feel they definitely didnt give, not just myself, but any of the other candidates a chance, he said. As far as endorsing council is concerned, Santoro said that as a major stakeholder in Oakvilles fire service, the Oakville PFFA has the right to undertake political action to ensure the safety standards it now enjoys are retained. He also said Oakville PFFA members who are campaigning for the existing council are volunteers who are doing so on their own time. These firefighters do not wear their uni- forms when campaigning and do not campaign at Oakville Fire Department events like the Fire Prevention Week Kickoff, said Santoro. Former mayor and mayoral candidate Ann Mulvale said the Oakville PFFA is doing its job by endorsing the candidates its thinks will ben- efit its members. She also voiced concern because of the endorsement council may not be seen as neutral when the firefighters contract come up for renewal. The mayor should always be respectful of organized labour and collective bargaining rights, but at the same time they should never lose sight of the fact they have a requirement to represent the interests of the property taxpayers and the people of Oakville as well, said Mulvale. Its not a question of what the mayor may feel, its a question of how the public will per- ceive it in terms of whether it is best practices and whether they believe their interests as resi- dents and taxpayers will come ahead of the interests of the firefighters. Mulvale also stood by her record stating hav- ing three firefighters per truck was found to be appropriate because actual fire suppression is only 10 per cent of what firefighters actually do with the majority of calls for a single fire engine being medical or other non-fire calls. Mulvale said sending two engines to fire calls still allowed fires to be fought immediately. She also said the decision to go with three firefighters per fire engine was recommended in a Fire Master Study with council following the recommendations in that study and the rec- ommendations of the fire chief. Mulvale said she has undertaken projects to help firefighters. Upon realizing so few firefight- ers were getting fire suppression experience she worked with the fire chief to raise money for a training facility, which included a burn tower to ensure that adequate actual experience of fight- ing fires was available locally for firefighters. At no time did I ever cut corners on train- ing or have any lack of concern for the safety of the people of Oakville or the safety of the fire- fighters who serve us, said Mulvale. When asked if the Oakville PFFA endorse- ment represented a conflict of interest, Burton said it did not. I didn't complain about them exercising their democratic rights to express endorse- ments last time when they didn't endorse me, and I don't see any reason to complain this time about their endorsement of the entire council, which I agree has been a great one, he said. Burton also said when the Oakville PFFA endorsed most of council during the last elec- tion this did not cause council to buckle at budget time and give the firefighters whatever they wanted. He said he saw no reason why this would be the case now. Another mayoral candidate John McLaughlin said he saw nothing wrong. I think in this kind of democratic process people and groups should be free to endorse whichever candidate they want, he said. It may look a little partisan to some people. I particularly dont mind because I think what is important is what the people decide and who they vote for. Candidates weigh in on firefighters endorsement MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER BACKING: Ward 4 Councillor Allan Edgar (left) and supporter Frances Killingbeck (centre) pose for a photo with Mayor Rob Burton (right) and Oakville firefighters (behind) during Burton's cam- paign rally at the International Union of Operating Engineers Banquet Hall.