An event will be held on Sunday in Squamish to support a province wide petition to amend the Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining Act.

Currently the BC Ambulance service is deemed a non-essential service. A change to the act, to include public sector paramedics and dispatchers alongside police officers and firefighters would mean protection from labour disputes and lock-outs.

Paramedic and a Canvassing Team Leader Troy Gienger says they need signatures from a minimum of 10% of every riding in the province for the act to be amended. Gienger says the amendment to the act is key to a seamless ambulance service; “it allows our union to be lifted out of it’s current bargaining location, which is facilities bargaining in the hospital and move us under the protection of the Fire & Police Act.”

Elections BC requires signatures to be manually signed for in person, and so there is no online petition. The petition started on January 9th and canvassers have 90 days to attempt to collect the signatures in order to amend the act. Gienger says they have 800 canvassers province wide and need approximately 315,000 signatures. Gienger says; “there is almost no resistance, 99% of the public is behind this, most of the time they’re in disbelief that we’re not an emergency service, they’re quite surprised at that, to find out that, you know you’re not an essential service like Fire Departments and Police”.

The first event will take place on Sunday January 29th at the Save on Foods Parking lot in Squamish between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for residents to sign the petition. You can find more information at YourParamedics.CA.

 

Photo Credit: Canuckle / Wikimedia.org

Filed under: BC, BC Ambulance, Elections, Government, Paramedics, Petition, Squamish