According to new federal legislation, volunteer firefighters are eligible for a tax break. Their cousins at Fort George Highway Rescue Society (FGHRS) are not. Chief Keith Laboucan was informed of this just in time for his members' fiscal year-end.
Under the new rules, qualified volunteer firefighters can receive hundreds of dollars in potential tax savings depending on the number of hours (minimum 200 per year) they are engaged in firefighting, training, department meetings, and other duties of the fire hall. For most volunteer fire departments, the extra activities include auto extrication at traffic incidents and medical responses of all sorts.
Crash response is what FGHRS specializes in. It includes auto extrication of crash victims, first aid, scene stabilization, and also any firefighting pertaining to the crash. They are the official responders for many of the region's volunteer fire departments that don't have in-house capabilities, and they are mandated by the regional district to attend the remotest corners of the area with no coverage by a volunteer fire department.
They drive fire-rescue trucks, they are certified by the same trainers, they wear turnout gear, but the FGHRS is not designated as a fire department.
"They get a tax advantage that apparently we don't get, while I'm fighting to keep up my membership list," said Laboucan. "We do essentially the same work, we do a massive amount of public service under the same emergency response structures, yet we are not given the same recognition as other first responders. How does that happen?"
A letter from Robert Hill, director of the region's branch of the Canada Revenue Agency, confirmed the disparity.
"Based on the information available, the [FGHRS] is an independent organization that is not directly controlled by a fire department," said Hill. "As well, it does not appear that the volunteer members of this society are performing services in the capacity of volunteer firefighters... I regret that my reply could not be more favourable."
"It's not that I think volunteer firefighters don't count, they do, they deserve a tax credit, but the work done by groups like ourselves and some Search and Rescue organizations also count for the same things," said Laboucan. "It isn't fair and it isn't right."
The FGHRS is celebrating 30 years of service this year.
