Conservatives turning their backs on wildland firefighters, conservation officers

QUEEN'S PARK – Ontario NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North) exposed the Ford Conservatives’ poor treatment of wildland firefighters this week. She and the Official Opposition called out the Conservative government for consistently denying these firefighters the same presumptive cancer coverage as their counterparts while simultaneously subjecting them to short-term contracts with poor pay and zero benefits.

"Despite their supposed commitment to supporting all categories of firefighters, this Conservative government is withholding coverage from wildland firefighters,” Vaugeois said. “They’re persistently restricting job offers to short-term contracts characterized by inadequate pay and a lack of benefits, all while slashing wildfire budgets by 67% ($142.2 million according to the 2019 Ontario budget). The Conservatives show they don’t care about protecting Ontarians from wildfires or protecting the hardworking people who fight them."

Bourgouin drew attention to a parallel issue in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, where experienced conservation officers are being denied fair pay and pushed out of the profession.

"In the North, we understand the vital role of wildland firefighters and conservation officers,” Bourgouin said. “The corrupt Conservatives praise them as 'heroes' when the cameras are on, but the moment they’re off, they continue to stonewall them.”

“This government is using every excuse in the book not to help these workers,” Bourgouin added. “A simple stroke of the Minister’s pen would address these issues."

Vaugeois stresses the urgency of doing right by these workers, emphasizing the hazards posed to the public by the government's unwillingness to act. "We are losing highly skilled workers in both fields precisely when we need them most to combat the impacts of climate change. Reclassifying these workers is not a complex process; it could be done tomorrow if the Conservative government chose to do the right thing."