March 18, 2009,
A quick look at the sports culture in the U.S. and Canada:
Baseball – played on a field featuring a mound of
dirt;
NASCAR – races are run on tracks with steep banks;
Football – the field is slightly crowned to allow
drainage;
Golf – don’t we all wish that the greens were
perfectly flat?
Soccer – see football, above.
So it seems that the quintessential Canadian
favourites, ice hockey and curling, are the only sports with a level playing
field.
Now, if you will forgive me for that intro, I will
draw a contrast between our respective sporting and fire-service cultures. The
news from our neighbours to the south this week included the vice president,
the speaker of the House and several other prominent Democrats speaking at the
IAFF legislative conference in Washington.
Partly a biennial payback for support from IAFF locals and partly a statement
of intent on how the new administration plans to fund fire service initiatives,
these speeches highlight one of the greatest inequities between our two
countries. The American federal government maintains programs and agencies to
encourage the development of safe and effective fire services across its
territory. The Canadian government does
nothing to level the playing field among communities that can afford top-notch
fire protection and those that cannot. The Americans have the U.S. Fire
Administration and the National Fire Academy, open
to all and well funded. We have nothing at the federal level with which to even
draw a comparison.
Let’s face it – we are not a priority right now.
Even if we could ignore the facts that we are in a deep economic hole and in
the middle of a war, fire protection is not and never has been near the top of
the legislative agenda. Stephane Dion (remember him?) made a promise that a
Liberal government would go ahead with the creation of a National Fire
Advisor’s office, but he could have promised a Beatles reunion for all the good
it would have done him at the polls. And all the while, about 35 per cent more Canadians
each year die by fire than by firearms, not including suicides (using figures
from Statistics Canada). Fire kills 30 Canadians for every one who dies in an
avalanche, but which got more attention in the last year?
So here is your turn to talk; what are we not doing
to get the attention of our government, our media and the people we protect? What
can we do to level the playing field? We need to get in the corners and fight
for the puck. We need to hurry – hard!
And since this is March, let’s not forget that the
other big American sport – basketball - also makes use of a level playing
field. After all, it was invented by a Canadian!
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Mark Nowlan
Written by Mark Nowlan on 2009-03-26 20:44:20
Peter's points couldn't be more accurate! We (the fire service) is not a priority, plain and simple. Why? I'd like to see some opinion on this, something of meaning from an elected official. I realize there are serious issues facing the country now, but the fire loss stats don't show any major improvements. As the economy goes down, do you suppose fire losses will go up? Mind you, it's difficult to get an accurate reading of the statistics when there is no federal agency keeping them up to date. It's too easy to blame it on the individual provinces, "they didn't get their stats to us".
Plain and simple, we need a national advisory, group, office, I don't care what you call it! Then again....maybe we or "they" don't want to know just how bad we as a nation are??? hmmmm | Dave
Written by Dave on 2009-03-19 13:39:02
I think you have made some very good points and we (the fire service) need to come together and talk to the politicians in the only language they understand(VOTES). We need, as a group, to agree upon the needs of the fire service as a whole then approach our politicans. I believe that this is a role for our provincial organizations and they should be spearheading this drive on behalf of all the departments. As a 30+ year veteran of the service I have reached the stage where I am a member of a department that doesn't have to do as much fund raising as our neighbours but, the constant struggle for funds is affecting every department in the country. When was the last time you saw a volunteers look after the sanitary land fill or the sewer department??? I guess the answer will give you an idea as to how high on the politicans' radar the fire department is. I should say that I hate to generalize and I have met a few politicans that do support the fire department but most think they are like insurance policies: buy the cheapest you can and expect it to pay out the most when you need it. | Mark
Written by Mark on 2009-03-18 17:24:02
The "Level playing field"... Peter's hit the nail squarely on the head here. I've been researching, or as any Canadian who's been researching would say...Trying to!! Nationally speaking, our fire service is obviously a hurting unit! This underlying political attitude is likely (in my own opinion)the water curtain slowing progress of the lobby efforts for a national statistics or fire service advisor!
Peter's comments on the firearms and fires fatality stats are just what government at all levels does not want to hear, especially in these economic times.
Best just tuck that head under some sand and stop confusing me with the facts.
Excellent post Peter! |
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