TO ALL OPFFA LOCALS:
Today Zone 3 Director Dan Vanderlelie and I visited Queen’s Park to be present as the Minister of Finance moved the motion to approve the budget.
This budget includes a 30 million dollar funding commitment over three years to be invested in fire equipment; ensuring firefighters have the necessary equipment to do their job.
Protecting the Health and Safety of Firefighters
The government is committed to keeping communities safe and supporting the province’s firefighters. Firefighters are more likely to experience health problems because of exposure to hazardous chemicals. To keep first responders and Ontario’s communities safe, fire departments need resources to ensure they have the right infrastructure and protective equipment.
This is why the government is investing $30 million over the next three years to launch the Fire Protection Grant. This application‐based grant will provide municipal fire departments, including those in small and rural communities, with funding for personal protective equipment and specialized decontamination tools to clean and sanitize firefighter gear and mitigate the long‐term effects of exposure to chemicals and other fire‐related contaminants.
The Fire Protection Grant will support departments by ensuring they have the right infrastructure and protective equipment to respond to local needs and that they may do so safely and more effectively.
The government is also moving forward and implementing simultaneous notification in Halton and has committed to developing a technological solution to enable the uptake of simultaneous notification province-wide.
Improving Response Times for First Responders
The government will continue working to enable seamless communication between fire and paramedic dispatch systems across the province. This technology will enable municipalities with tiered response agreements to implement simultaneous notification between their fire and paramedic services. This will facilitate faster response times, drive better patient outcomes and enhance Ontario’s public safety response model for the people of this province. The government is working to ensure that simultaneous notification between fire and paramedic services is operational in the near future in Halton Region, while working on provincial implementation.
Congratulations to all OPFFA members. Today marks a culmination of hard work, dedication, and perseverance!
We truly are stronger together.
In Solidarity,
Greg Horton, President
Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association
