Crowsnest Pass Fire Rescue
Fire Fighter Recruitment
The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is recruiting volunteer Fire Fighters. Be part of a progressive and dynamic team that is working for the safety of our residents and protection of our community. We offer competitive training, wages and benefits. Please submit your resume with cover letter to: Steve Munshaw, Fire Chief
Municipality of Crowsnest Pass
PO Box 600
Crowsnest Pass, Ab. T0K 0M0
Or check it out your self @ http://www.town.crowsnestpass.ab.ca/finance-a-administration/employment
I wonder what they mean by competitive training, wages and benefits?
13 comments:
No disrespect to the community from which the new fire chief just arrived from - but the depth of experience and history this administration is prepared to flush down the drain is mind boggling. If they are doing this in the name of tax savings and efficiency, we just have to look at the town office to know where this is going to end. If someone was to write a manual for "How Not To Bring Change to a Small Communit". - this is it. Who is in charge up there anyway?
Finally, this council has delivered jobs in the community. But wait a minute? Firing 100 firefighters to hire back 50 is actually 50 jobs lost? So we're still on the downward slide? Can't these guys count?
I'm out of work and looking for a job myself but even I won't take one of these jobs. In fact, the only ones I think who will, will be 'scabs' from out of town... which is exactly what this municipality has been hiring for their upper management positions all along, now haven't they? I suspect, we'll see more of the same here with these posted firefighter positions.
JP
In some parts of Canada it is almost impossible to get a family doctor. Doctors are very busy, but some have found this too stressful, so they shut down their private practices to take a salaried position at a hospital or clinic.
Their patients get a polite goodbye letter (giving them options on where their records should go).
Would you call that "unprofessional"? If not, why apply a higher standard of professional duty to volunteer firefighters who are paid much less?
We are going from a system where firefighters elect Chiefs they have confidence in, to a system where they have no say and are subject to arbitrary "insubordination" BS.
The responsible approach would have been to notify the firefighters of these changes in writing well in advance and find out how many are interested in continuing with the new system. Possibly this could have avoided a crisis - we'll never know because a confrontational approach was chosen.
BTW, I have heard some anger directed at Administration employees. This is wrong. Council (not just the Mayor) is ultimately responsible for hiring and (not) firing them and for setting policies and procedures for handling these situations. If Council chooses not to make any rules and just leave it all up to the CAO, Council is still 100% responsible for the results.
So now it begins the process of seeing who blinks first. The municipality brings in outside help.
Dollars and Dollars.
The Firemen sit back waiting for council and administration to come to the table.
In the meantime administration attempts to hire new volunteers. They have the new Fire Chief attempt to lure back the fire fighters they want and need. Look for them to target the ones that are younger and passionate about being a fire fighter especially in a couple of weeks.
The rate payers attempt to talk to council, council due to the public out cry listens to them but does not hear.
Petitions start to remove council, ego's and arrogance creates the mind set in the powers to be. That it won't succeed and if it does the people just don't recognize all they have done for them.
Could be a very interesting couple of months.
Dave
There is a contingency plan on the town website.
http://www.town.crowsnestpass.ab.ca/component/docman/doc_download/1658-fire-safety-contingency-plan
I found this article which I found quite interesting. It seems to me that our new fire chief had a new job somewhere else as early as this last April. It is now only Oct. I don't understand this.
Angry firefighters don't trust new chief, quit Charlie Lake department
Tuesday, April 03, 2012 10:32 PM
CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. - All but two volunteer firefighters in the roughly 30-member department in Charlie Lake, B.C., have quit.
Firefighters in the northeastern part of the province handed in their pagers, protesting the actions of the Peace River Regional District which fired the old chief and replaced him with someone they don't know without consulting volunteers.
Trouble within the Charlie Lake department has smouldered for nearly two years, but flared when former Kimberley assistant fire chief Steve Munshaw took over April 1, to replace the long-time chief, who was not considered for the post.
Firefighters in the community eight kilometres north of Fort St. John say they don't know or trust their new chief, a paid, full-time staff member, or the recently hired assistant fire chief, who also receives a salary.
Officials with the regional district hope the dispute can be resolved but in the meantime, fire crews from Fort St. John or Taylor, about 25 kilometres further south, will respond to major incidents in Charlie Lake.
The regional district is also launching a recruitment drive in hopes of attracting new volunteers to the fire department, which responds to about 50 calls every year. (MooseFM)
Note to readers: Corrects that volunteers quit over lack of consultation
© The Canadian Press, 2012
Read it on Global News: Global News | Angry firefighters don't trust new chief, quit Charlie Lake department
The article could easily be written here, just change the name of the community. Council knows exactly what they are doing. The only thing is, that the people are so pissed of in the CNP that they are willing to bring down council over this straw breaking issue.
Anom 11:12 AM
I am very impressed with your comments. I think with few sentences you have gotten to the heart of the issue… ”INSUBORDINATION”.
Is insubordination acceptable conduct if he disagrees with change being implemented? If insubordination is not acceptable, how does he make his point?
Divide and conquer?
Lots of new info on facebook in the last hour.
So I think the municipality has made themselves clear where they stand.
You can come back on our terms.
The word compromise will not be a part of the solution to this problem.
Bill
The ad states "competive wages". Competitive with what fire agency?
Volunteer firemen or full time city firemen?
How can they ask for "VOLUNTEERS" when they are offering wages...this is a HUGE kick in the teeth to our firefighters who have served on these departments for years and years....who have follwed in their fathers and grand fathers and great grandfathers footsteps!! This is an outrage...I understand the need for the fire fighters..but this wrong and unmoral!!
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