Rankin Inlet Fire Chief Mark Wyatt was presented with the King’s Coronation Medal for his involvement with the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs National Advisory Council during September's Fire Rescue Canada gathering in Montreal.
The National Advisory Council (NAC) includes fire leadership from across the country, including provincial and territorial associations, the Canadian Council of Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners, Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada, Department of National Defence, Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association, Canadian Metro Chiefs and the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Wyatt said he was honoured to be nominated by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.
He said he's been sitting on the NAC for three years now, as well as the Answer the Call committee (focus on recruitment) and the Mental Health committee, which deals with a number of mental health issues in the fire-and-first-responder industry.
“That involves monthly meetings on Zoom and there's also a couple of annual conferences I attend. One, Fire Rescue Canada, happens in September and this year's was in Montreal. It's made-up primarily of fire chiefs from across the country and some suppliers.
“And then there's a thing from Dec. 2 to 6 called Government Relations Week, where we go to Ottawa and meet with the federal government about different things that need to be done.”
One of the things the chiefs have been working on for quite awhile is the volunteer firefighter's tax credit, which has been stalled at $3,000 for a number of years.
Wyatt said the fire chiefs wanted the government to bump that up to $10,000, which would really help in the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.
He said of the 120,000 firefighters across Canada, about 90,000 are volunteers, which, he adds, is pretty incredible.
“You get career firefighters in the metro centres, or major cities, but the bulk of the firefighters are volunteers. When you look at all the wildfires that happen during the course of the summer in B.C., Alberta and places like that, the bulk of the people who are out fighting those are volunteers.
“We managed to get the government to double the tax credit for 2024 and moving forward, so it's now a $6,000 credit for all firefighters. It's not like paying someone, but it helps a lot.
“It was a huge honour to be recognized with the King’s Coronation Medal. There are a number of King’s Coronation medals presented across the country in all sorts of different industries. There are lots of great people who do lots of great things for this country.
“At the end of this year, I'll have been in this industry for 21 years. So, to be honoured in the fire industry for something that I do is quite an honour.”
