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
Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Ukrainian child asylum seekers in St. John’s get class of their own
Roughly 50 children will gathered in a St. John’s classroom for the first time on Saturday for unique lessons on Ukrainian language, culture and history.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.