City council met behind closed doors for close to three hours Tuesday, and while the public reason was to discuss personnel and labour relations issues, Sudbury.com has learned the topic of discussion was the recent discipline and termination of volunteer firefighters.
According to the union for the volunteers, eight of their members were disciplined and three were terminated for speaking against the contentious fire optimization plan presented by Fire and Paramedic Chief Trevor Bain last spring.
Bain had been instructed by city council to create a plan to create a one-city, one-service model for fire protection to ensure all corners of the city were adequately served. The plan caused an uproar, however, because it called for hiring dozens of full-time firefighters and reducing the number of volunteers.
Under the rules laid out in the City of Greater Sudbury's employee handbook, city workers are to be apolitical and are not to express public opinions regarding issues before city council.
The moved angered some city councillors representing areas protected by volunteers, and shouts could be heard outside the meeting with councillors demanding to know why the volunteers were fired or disciplined.
After the meeting, Mayor Brian Bigger said he couldn't discuss specifics of the meeting because it dealt with personnel issues and labour negotiations.
"We've met in closed session,” Bigger said Tuesday. “Council has discussed the items that were identified in agendas online. We've asked for more information and we've planned a future meeting to receive that additional information from staff. Essentially, that's all I can provide you."
When asked whether the meeting will change the status of the disciplined or fired firefighters, Bigger said he couldn't discuss it.
"I can't provide any details of the discussion inside of the closed meeting," he said. "It's a very basic statement, I understand. But we are dealing with topics that relate to identifiable individuals and union negotiations."
Multiple sources have told sudbury.com, however, that many councillors are upset with how the situation has been handled, with one saying several councillors are increasingly unhappy with the performance of Bain as chief.
No word yet on when the followup meeting will be held.
