The embers from the failed fire optimization plan in Greater Sudbury keep burning, as Sudbury's career firefighting union has launched a complaint on behalf of embattled Fire Chief Trevor Bain.
This comes weeks after the union representing volunteer firefighters went public with news it was fighting the dismissal of three of its members, as well as the disciplining of another eight volunteers.
Firefighting in Sudbury has become controversial since last spring, when Bain led a series of public input sessions outlining the costs of equalizing fire response times across the city.
The plan was not only expensive, it also reduced the reliance on volunteers and called for hiring more career firefighters. There is simply no way volunteers can respond as fast as full-time firefighters, Bain said at the time, because they are at work or at home when they are called.
But the plan, which was rejected as too expensive by city council, led to suspicions by volunteers and their supporters that the city was trying to eliminate them in favour of career firefighters.
Some city councillors – including Ward 1 Coun. Michael Vagnini and Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier -- have been particularly vocal in opposing the plan.
Kris Volpel, president of the Greater Sudbury Firefighters Association, confirmed Friday they have complained to the Ministry of Labour regarding the actions of some councillors toward Bain. Volpel declined to say which councillors are involved in the complaint.
"I don't think it's appropriate to be naming those councillors referred to in the letter,” he said. “My intent is to have this looked at further. I feel like potentially we have some workplace harassment issues.
"Essentially, (it's) just remarks by councillors that would be disparaging in nature and I believe with the intent to ridicule the fire chief, which I don't believe is appropriate, given the provisions of Bill 168."
Bill 168 is provincial legislation designed to prevent and stop workplace harassment. Volpel said they first lodged a complaint during the optimization process in March, and the union believes it was handled by Mayor Brian Bigger's office.
Volpel said because it deals with accusations involving politicians, it should be investigated by the province or another third-party not tied to the municipality.
"We can start by having representatives from the Ministry of Labour come and at least take a look at what has been brought forward as concerns," Volpel said.
"From there, we can establish whether or not there should be a more in depth look at whether or not provisions under Bill 168 have been violated."
On Wednesday, city council held a second closed-door meeting on the issue, when they were expected to get a report on why the three volunteer firefighters were dismissed. Sources say an announcement from the city is coming early next week in an attempt to resolve the issue.
In the last year, the infighting between fire and emergency services has gone public. Paramedics felt ignored by the optimization plan, and are extremely unhappy with a provincial project to have career firefighters be trained as paramedics to respond to some calls.
Volpel acknowledged there is tension between the services.
"It's impossible to deny there wasn't some very contentious debate during the discussion regarding fire service delivery models that would be appropriate for Sudbury," he said.
"However, the Sudbury Professional Firefighters Association very much want to do everything that we can to ensure that we have a good working relationship with all the stakeholders involved. And that includes volunteer firefighters, EMS workers, managers related to our service and city council."
But he said the situation is being made worse by politicians with an agenda of their own, creating "a narrative that is a politician's politics of the day."
Transcript of a letter to Kevin Fowke, the city's general manager of corporate services:
Dear Kevin,
The purpose of this letter is to serve as a follow up to the Bill 168 complaint that was submitted to the Corporation on March 14, 2017.
Shortly after bringing this matter forward, you and I discussed the matter in person in CAO Ed Archer's office. I left that meeting under the impression you felt it was appropriate to bring in a third party to investigate due to the fact that the complaint was against identified councillors. We agreed that it would be difficult to have persons that work for the corporation complete the investigation and that a third party would ensure the corporation’s due diligence.
It is my understanding that since our conversation, this investigation has been conducted by the Mayor’s office and not the third party. It is our position that this is neither appropriate nor in accordance with provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Following the launch of the complaint we have observed Fire Chief Bain consistently endure further harassment from the above mentioned councillors. The harassment has come in the form of disparaging remarks in both main stream and social media intended to publicly humiliate this individual.
The actions of the identified councillors have created a poisoned work environment that will eventually result in Chief Trevor Bain’s resignation from his position with the city. The failure of the Corporation to do its due diligence can only be interpreted as constructive dismissal given the refusal to conduct a proper investigation as well as taking any proactive measures to ensure a safe working environment for Chief Bain.
Due to the fact that we do not feel as though our complaint is being handled in an appropriate way by the Corporation, we will be pursuing this matter with the Ministry of Labour in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
