Minimum requirements for Fire Prevention and Public Education are included in the guidelines. OFM fire protection advisors are generally available to assist municipalities with advice on fire protection services. Part IX of the FPPA replaces and introduces amendments to the Fire Departments Act , which currently governs fire service labor relations. Once proclaimed into law, Part IX will be administered by the Minister of Labour. The new legislation will ensure that any member of a fire department who functions as a manager, will be a manager and will therefore be subject to exclusion.
Firefighters are very committed to the work they do.
Their long-standing commitment not to strike reflects well on their professionalism. Nevertheless, under the former legislation, a potential strike situation never occurred because every collective agreement remained in force until a new one was established, either through bargaining or through arbitration. When the new legislation updates collective bargaining for firefighters to bring it more in line with that of other workers, the new process could have placed firefighters in a strike disposition. It is important that public safety be protected by ensuring that this essential service is always available. In prohibiting strikes in the fire service the province has, for the first time, officially recognized fire protection as an essential service.