Langham fire chief tells town to end agreement with City of Saskatoon for emergency assistance
Langham’s fire chief is advising his town council to sever ties with the City of Saskatoon when it comes to emergency services.
He said in a letter to Langham Council that the City of Saskatoon approached the town with an offer to work together and share an Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) coordinator.
“I voiced my opinion at the time, that it was not a good idea, it is still not a good idea,” Bill McCombs said in the letter.
“The claim was that they would help us should an incident occur, and this has not happened once,” he wrote. “We have never, ever had any assistance from the City of Saskatoon, even if requested.
“The City of Saskatoon will look after the City of Saskatoon first.”
A statement from Saskatoon’s deputy fire chief of operations, Rob Hogan, said there was no such agreement.
“The emergency response services that the Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) provides to neighbouring municipalities are most often covered off through either a response agreement or a mutual aid agreement,” the statement said.
“The Town of Langham does not have a response agreement or a mutual aid agreement with the Saskatoon Fire Department.”
Hogan said that the partnership Saskatoon has with Langham and several other communities signed in 2020 was to build regional resiliency.
“The program provides for one regional resiliency specialist position to support all member municipalities. This position is funded through a cost-sharing arrangement between the SFD and all the member municipalities. In any emergency management program, no one person can be the only person available for response – the goal is to build resiliency and backup so that there are multiple people within a community who are able to respond and lead.”
McCombs said the deal was not beneficial for Langham.
“This has cost the Town of Langham a substantial amount of money with zero return,” he wrote.
He also wrote that they have had a better working relationship with the fire department in Dalmeny. They have their own EMO, something that McCombs advised for Langham.
Langham Mayor, Gary Epp, said he was not sure what direction council will take.
“They've never been involved in anything,” he said, referring to the EMO in Saskatoon.
He pointed to a recent emergency that happened in his town.
“Alerts on everybody's telephone about the incident, people all the way to Winnipeg were aware and we had no response from Saskatoon," Epp said.
Langham council will be meeting with the EMO in September and make a decision after that, Epp said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.