Cancer kills firefighters but coverage varies by province. A new law seeks to change that
CBC
Fire knows no borders in Canada — but firefighters' workplace compensation for some types of cancer does. A new federal law could change that.
How provinces compensate firefighters for workplace-related cancers — the most deadly occupational risk they face — varies widely.
Provincial workplace safety boards link different cancers to firefighting, making it harder for some firefighters to access compensation.
"To have this inequality of coverage for firefighters when they get diagnosed with those illnesses is a real disservice to those who serve the community," said Neil McMillan, director of science and research at the Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine Division of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
Earlier this year, MPs and senators passed a private member's bill — championed by Liberal member of Parliament Sherry Romanado — that seeks to standardize that compensation.
It's designed to create a national framework for the prevention and treatment of cancers within a year.
"We're delighted that it made its way through the House and the Senate unanimously in support and became law," said Romanado.
"Strangers come to me in tears ... saying, 'You're going to save lives.' It's been really overwhelming."
The law, formerly known as Bill C-224, will see provinces and the federal government share research about occupational cancers for firefighters, with the goal of establishing greater consistency in coverage across the country.
Romanado, whose spouse and father served as firefighters, said it felt like fate when she was chosen to present a private member's bill shortly after a constituent approached her about this issue.
Jean-François Couture was 44 years old, with two school-aged children, when he was diagnosed in 2017 with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer.
He had served as a firefighter with Longueuil, Que. for more than 20 years before his diagnosis.
While his form of cancer is covered by Quebec's workplace health and safety board, he knows that others aren't so lucky — which is why he reached out to Romanado about a legislative fix.
"I was thinking, what can I do to help other people?" he told CBC News.
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