Lakeshore Advance, 2012-11-07, Page 18Positive provinclal support
sought for volunteer firefighters
Gord Whitehead
Were the ears of Ontario Labour Ministry and Office of the
re Marshal officials burning during the early afternoon of
ednesday, November 23"1?
Authorities in those provincial offices were soundly
scorched in absentia by mayors and administrators of 21
Lambton, Huron and Middlesex County municipalities
meeting in Thedford to agonize over the escalating pains of
retaining and funding their volunteer fire departments. The
Office of the Fire Marshal had been asked to send a repre-
sentative but declined, said Mayor Todd Case of Warwick
Township, co -host of what was billed as a "suinmit" on rural
volunteer fire services.
Recurring message of the conference is that there is a
need for the province and its ministries to become pro -active
in supporting the needs of municipal departments in contrast
to the frequently occurring scenario of reacting in a
fault-finding way to negative situations such as firefighters'
injuries or deaths.
Ai
How many dollars does a
municipality have to put up to meet
what ministries require? From day
one our volunteers have come out
and fundraised. They are a fabric of
the community."
— Don Bruder
A second meeting - no date mentioned - will lead to
preparation of a report to be presented to a February, 2012
conference of rural municipalities (ROMA) which provincial
representatives are expected to attend. "This has never come
up at ROMA," said Dawn-Ettphernia Mayor Bill Bilton who is
a member of the associations board.
Elaborating on liability, training and cost concerns,
Lambton Shores chief administrator John Byrne told the
meeting it is becoming rnore difficult to recruit firefighters.
they are a very fragile entity and are in danger of being lost if
we don't voice our concerns to the province."
Warwick Township administrator Don Bruder said there
-+oesn't seem to be any type of co-ordination in a positive
Ilinner among provincial ministries. He referred to "sorne
eces of legislation which sit out there like a baseball bat. In
most cases there is very little support for our departments out
there. They certainly know how to tell you when you've done
something wrong."
Bruder added, "How many dollars does a municipality
have to put up to meet what ministries require? From day one
our volunteers have cone out and fundraised. They are a
fabric of the community."
The relative cost of converting to employment of full-time
firefighters was discussed briefly. One mayor suggested it is
ten times cheaper for his municipality to staff fire stations
with 175 volunteers than to hire full-timers or to arrange for a
service on a contract basis. A prepared release to the news
media suggests that the represented municipalities wish to
retain their rural volunteer department services.
Warwick's Don Bruder calculated that the 21 municipali-
ties represented at the Thedford meeting operate 40 fire
stations with more than 1,000 volunteers. There is quite a
volunteering force represented here," he commented.
esti wttnw
At a November 23i° meeting in Thedford, Lambton
Shores Mayor Bill Weber, len, and his Warwick Township
counterpart Tbdd Case found a clear consensus among
fellow mayors and municipal administrators that their
support and appreciation for volunteer firefighters must be
matched by provincial authorities.
Mayor Case said recently elected Larnbton-Kent-Middle-
sex Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton has been briefed
about the municipalities' concerns. And another meeting
participant su ested the government's minority status may
make it more receptive to these types of concerns.
In addition to the Lambton Shores and Warwick
Township hosts, other municipalities at the summit were
Brooke-Alvinston, Enniskillen, Dawn-Euphemia, Oil Springs,
Petrolia, Plympton-Wyoming, St. Clair, Point Edward,
Adelaide -Metcalfe, Lucan Biddulph, North Middlesex,
Southwest Middlesex, Thames Centre, Newbury, Ashfleld-
Colborne-Wawanosh, Central Huron, Iluron East, North
Iluron and South Huron.
Lambton Shores' Legacy Centre was the venue for the
November 23"' meeting but the preparer of the printed
agenda appeared to recognize - perhaps in Freudian
fashion - the long time lag in reopening the renovated
building by listing the location as "The Lagacy Centre".
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 3
Grand Bend Optimist propose
a municipal partnership
Lynda HIIIman-Rapley
'Ihe Grand Bend and Area Optimist Club attended council last
week in hopes of some administrative help for the youth centre.
"We are not asking for money," assured member Peter Coleman in
his delegation to members. the youth centre is run by the Optimist
Club. They have overseen the operation for the past ten years by
individuals on a volunteer basis - in charge of staffing etc. but are
no longer in a position to do so on our own.
Proposal
Their proposal is that the Municipality partner with the Optimist
to continue to run these important and much needed programs to
Lambton Shores. the Optin lst will commit up to $10 000 per year
for a three year term and re-evaluate at that time and the Munici-
pality will provide an existing staff member to oversee the Youth
Centre as the facilitator (40-50 his/YEAR) and the Optimist Club
will provide a committee to work hand in hand with the Facilitator.
Coleman, with the help of current facilitator Kaitlyn Davis
explained why the Youth Centre is vital to Lambton Shores stating
they provide much-needed programs and
facilities to families in the area that helps keep them in Lambton
Shores. "This acts as a draw and brings families into the area," said
Coleman adding, "
When a family has to
go outside the
municipality for a
program, revenue
goes with them'
This Club has
donated more than
one million dollars
to community
projects including
the Grand Bend
beach enhance-
ment, the Grand
Bend gym and score-
board, Optimist Park
and skateboard
parks, outdoor bas-
ketball court and
future ice rink, the
youth centre build-
ing renovation and
ongoing'operation
and many drop-in
sports, camps and
courses and classes.
Council thanked
the presenters.
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