A group of northern Ontario New Democrat MPPs want the province to address urgent safety issues for forest firefighters prior to the start of the 2024 fire season.
Mushkegowuk James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin says they want the forest rangers to be included in Bill 149 and have the same protection and classification as other firefighters.
“We know that they are young people because it’s hard work, and they are getting paid $25 an hour to jump off helicopters to go into the swamps, to go into the hard terrain and firefight,” he said. “And they are exposed to smoke that could later on give them cancer.”
Bourgouin says they’ll be pressing the Ministry of Labour for clarification on the issue.
“So we pushed questions today, and the Ministry of Labour answered yes they will,” But they said yes. Yes to what,” he said. “They didn’t go into detail. We’re going to follow up probably tomorrow and asked to clarify this on what it means by yes.”