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House Hansard - 90

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 16, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 90 - Jun/16/22
Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)
Madam Speaker, the NDP supports protecting firefighters from occupational health and safety risks. Firefighters risk their lives every day to protect our communities. They have our backs when we need it most and, in turn, we have a responsibility to take care of Canada's firefighters. With that in mind, I will reiterate the words of my colleague for Vancouver Kingsway: This bill has our hearty support. New Democrats stand with firefighters in the battle to extinguish occupational cancer and all occupational hazards they face. We must take immediate action to reduce the risk of cancer for Canadian firefighters through improved awareness, prevention, screening and treatment, which are all the things this bill proposes. By way of background, occupational cancer is now the leading cause of early death among firefighters. Firefighters are regularly exposed to concentrated carcinogens in the air that can be breathed in as well as absorbed by the body. All firefighters are exposed to these realities, yet there is inconsistent recognition of occupational cancers among firefighters all across Canada. That is unfair. All Canadian firefighters should have the highest levels of protection, regardless of where they practise their profession. Currently, across Canada, a firefighter's cancer may or may not be recognized as occupational depending on the province or territory in which they work. In addition, not all provinces and territories formally recognize the same cancer types as occupational among firefighters. For example, as the member beside me recently mentioned, Quebec recently enacted presumptive legislation for its firefighters, being the last province to do so. It only recognizes nine types of occupational risks, yet we know that there are at least double that number. With each province and territory having its own list of cancers that are presumed to be linked to firefighting, this alone is a reason to enact legislation to bring equity across the country. British Columbia is one of the provinces that is leading in acknowledging the proven link between increased rates of cancer and the profession of firefighting. It leads in pre-emptive cancer recognition in Canada, recognizing certain cancers for firefighters since 2005. This is very much due to the leading work of Local 18. In 2017, the B.C. government moved forward with an amendment to the Firefighters' Occupational Disease Regulation under the Workers Compensation Act to add presumptions for breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma as occupational diseases for firefighters. I am going to get upset. I ask my colleague to read it for me. Ms. Lisa Marie Barron: I thank my colleague. “A very important woman in my riding was involved in that advocacy to include breast cancers as pre-emptive. Her name is Jenn Dawkins, captain and acting training officer, Vancouver Fire and Rescue”—
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