The Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association "Answering the Call": September 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

Peterborough FF's supporting Jeff Leal

Great turn out!

Kirkland Lake FF's with David Ramsay

Sault Ste MArie FF's endorse Orazietti

News Release from David Orazietti on www.Sootoday.com

DAVID ORAZIETTI
LIBERAL CANDIDATE
SAULT STE. MARIE

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Orazietti welcomes endorsement from Sault Ste. Marie Local 529 Firefighter Association

SAULT STE. MARIE - (September 24) - The McGuinty government stood up for professional firefighters over the past four years and supported their hard work and dedication.

We passed one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation to compensate firefighters who suffer fire-related illnesses with Bill 221, recognizing that firefighters are vital to the protection of all Ontarians, stated Sault Ste. Marie Liberal candidate David Orazietti today.

"Firefighters and their families in Sault Ste. Marie make sacrifices every day to keep Ontarians safe and deserve compensation for work-related illnesses," said Orazietti.

"I would like to thank Rob Greave, Randy Richards and all members of Local 529 for their generous support but more importantly I want to thank them for their dedication to the people of Sault Ste. Marie," said Orazietti.

Firefighters know how important it is to have a government who listens to their concerns.

This was not always the case. In the 1990's what was thought to be a "labour friendly government" brought in the Social Contract, trampled collective agreements and froze wages.

Under the passage of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act in 1997 collective bargaining rights were fundamentally altered and the arbitration system was totally disrupted.

For the first time in recent memory fire fighters demonstrated at Queens Park lobbied MPPs and members of cabinet to try to defeat or at least alter this drastic affront on the legislation that fire fighters had lived by for decades in Ontario.

The election of the McGuinty government in 2003 signalled an improvement in government relations for Ontario's professional firefighters.

Almost four years later, firefighters have seen the benefits of a government that treats them with respect, considers them a legitimate stakeholder, and truly listens to their concerns.

The province supported firefighters and their families by passing legislation that allows specific diseases or heart injuries to be prescribed in regulations under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA).

This will allow the list of diseases presumed to be work-related to be reviewed and updated, through regulation, based on emerging medical information and input from fire sector stakeholders.

The conditions and qualifications for compensation for eight types of cancer, as well as heart injuries suffered within 24 hours of fighting a fire or participating in a fire training exercise are now identified under the WSIA.

This regulation will ensure that Ontario's workplace insurance system treats firefighters and their families fairly when a worker's compensation claim is filed.

In addition to the occupational disease coverage in Bill 221, the McGuinty government introduced pension reform by making the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) independent.

The McGuinty government committed to devolve the province's role in OMERS governance and return the responsibility to those who pay into the plan.

The act explicitly protects the main OMERS pension plan from any costs resulting from supplemental plans for police, firefighters and paramedics.

It specifically prohibits one employee from subsidizing the benefits of another.

The Ontario government is providing up to $10 million in funding over a two-year transitional period to:

- Help cover the start-up costs of supplemental plans for police, fire and paramedic employees.

- Assist with the initial costs of the newly established sponsors corporation.

- Meet the costs associated with the provincially-appointed facilitator.

- Test and prove the new governance model's effectiveness through a review, no later than 2012.

The NDP and the Conservatives voted against giving control over the OMERS pension plan to those who actually pay into it - Bill 206.

"This fall will be a truly defining moment for the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association (OPFFA). It presents an opportunity for all of us to prove that as professional firefighters, we will not abandon those who have supported us in so many positive and constructive ways," said Fred Leblanc, President OPFFA.

Over the past four years Ontario's firefighters have seen the difference between a government that listens and respects them and the governments of the previous 12 years under the NDP and Conservatives.

"We depend on our professional firefighters who put their own lives at risk in order to protect ours," said Orazietti.

"We owe it to them to keep working to make sure our firefighters stay safe and healthy, but if they do get sick, we want to make sure they get the support they need."

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