Survey Results Executive Summary January, 2015
Advcacy Priritizatin Survey Results Executive Summary Intrductin T meet the demands that ur current gvernment relatins success brings t the assciatin, and t be respnsive t the new plitical envirnment, the CAFC recgnized the need t develp a rbust, annual advcacy strategy that relies n member and stakehlder engagement. This strategy wuld enable CAFC t use its resurces mre efficiently and effectively t cmmunicate and influence the pinins and decisins f key stakehlders t advance its key plicy pririties. As an initial step, the CAFC s Bard f Directrs and the Natinal Advisry Cuncil (NAC) agreed t supprt an advcacy priritizatin study. During the mnth f Nvember, 2015 a brief nline survey was pen t CAFC members in bth English and French. 91 members cmpleted the survey. In additin, during the same perid, 9 phne interviews were cnducted with NAC and Bard members. Belw is an verview f sme f the key results. Fr the cmplete verview f the results please see the full reprt. Key Findings In terms f federal level gvernment relatins, the research shws that there is a brad range f issues members feel the CAFC shuld devte advcacy time and resurces t in the cming year: The brad range (summarized n 19 issue categries) makes evident the cmplexity f gvernment relatins effrts. The advcacy needs f the fire service are many but time and resurces make addressing all f them a challenge. The tp three issue categries were Grants and Federal Funding (55.4%), Building Cdes (49.5%), and Training (25.7%). Grants and Funding: financial resurces fr HUSAR teams, Hazmat and CBRNE capacity; firefighter training; equipment/apparatus cst fr small/rural fire departments; and fr prgrams such as JEPP vlunteer recruitment/retentin and mental health. Building Cdes: issues relate t the need fr changes t the Natinal Mdel cde related t residential sprinklers and firefighter and ccupant safety bjective. Members als recgnize that First Natin s reserves building cde implementatin and enfrcement is an imprtant issue. Training: issues fcused n the need fr training facilities, natinal standards fr training requirements, and the specific areas requiring training (e.g. HAZMAT/CBRNE, mental health emergency respnse; and transprtatin f dangerus gds via rail). The CAFC has been wrking n key advcacy issues fr the fire service fr many years. Taking int cnsideratin previus advcacy wrk and emergent issues, the survey asked members t rate the level f imprtance f 10 federal issues t their rganizatin. The 3 issues with the highest Very Imprtant and Imprtant ratings were: (1) Canada s Natinal Building Cde - Firefighter's Safety (91.36%); (2) Canada s Natinal Building Cde - Residential Sprinklers (88.89%); and (3) Mental Health - Research and Training (87.5%). A clse furth was Transprtatin f Dangerus Gds - Training and Regulatins (83.95%). 2
While these pririties prvide immediate actinable advcacy wrk it is imprtant t recgnize that sme f the issues that did nt rank high n the list are issues that CAFC must and shuld cntinue t build ut time t address, such as First Natins Fire Prtectin and funding HUSAR. In fact, a few members mentined their ratings were base n the impact that each f these issues has fr the jurisdictin f the respnder. While they might recgnize the imprtance f the issue, if they did nt affected them directly the respnder rated them lw. What this means is that, in rder t fulfill its missin, the CAFC needs t always try t identify what are the natinal implicatins f the issues that affect ur members at the lcal level. Cnclusins Frm the results we can see that the tp issues fr ur members are Grants and Federal Funding, Building Cdes (bth related t residential sprinklers and firefighter s safety), Training, and Mental Health. Nevertheless, as previusly explained, all f the issues surveyed rated fairly high and we need t explre ways in which we can strategically address them, In rder t cntinue being recgnized as the Vice f the Canadian Fire Service CAFC will nw take the results f this survey and develp an verall advcacy strategy fr 2016, as well as an issue based strategy fr each f the tp identified pririties. With the strategy in place, we will fcus n develping the advcacy prducts that members identified in the survey as imprtant t their gvernment relatin s wrk. We knw the cming year will be an interesting ne and we can t wait t wrk with members and stakehlders t imprve the fire service in Canada. Recmmendatins Advcacy is a very fluid area f wrk due t the influence that the ecnmic, plitical, and scial envirnment, as well as, unexpected fcusing events (such as Lac Megantic) can have n the emergence, prminence and supprt f particular issues. With the Federal electin just behind us, and a new gvernment in pwer (with 200 new MPs), the cming year will demand a gvernment relatins apprach that fcuses n educatin, abut ur Assciatin as well as ur key issues, and that leverages the Liberal s campaign prmises and the cntent f the Minister s mandate letters. Belw is a list f recmmendatins: 1. Shrt Term: The first key advcacy event this year will be ur Gvernment Awareness Week. As a result, we need t identify the issue we want t bring frward t the gvernment in the next few days. This is a pririty because we need time t develp ur materials and because members interested in participating want t knw what they are. This is a very different year and a new apprach mst be implemented. Please see belw fr in-depth GR week recmmendatins. 2. Medium Term: Develp advcacy prducts that reflect the preferences identified by members in the survey, eg. psitin papers, news releases, fact sheets fr each f the tp issues. Because the results shwed a brad number f ways f defining each f the issues further cnsultatin with members, Bard f Directrs, NAC and CAFC wrking grups/cmmittees will allw us t d a mre in-depth analysis in rder t build strng advcacy psitins and strategies. 3
3. Lng Term: Lking at the list f advcacy pririties identified by ur members there seems t be a lack f alignment with existing CAFC s structures, i.e. cmmittees and wrking grups. We shuld wrk n reviewing these structures t see which nes are n lnger needed, and which nes shuld be created. Fr example, the issue f Hazmat was very prminent in the answers but we dn nt have a specific cmmittee/wrking grup fr this tpic. Sme f the issues raised, fr example, Wildland/Urban Interface and First Natins Fire issues, are areas in which the CAFC has nt had a large histrical invlvement. As a result, we shuld actively build relatinships with rganizatins wrking n advcacy in thse areas t strengthen ur advcacy capacity, Annually review members psitins trugh an advcacy priritizatin survey and set up a review prcess f lessns learned t address changes and necessary adjustments t the tpics and the gvernment relatins strategies. Limitatins Every research has its limitatins. In this case we nly gt 91 respnses t the survey. Because there were n qualifying questins such as size f the fire department r lcatin it is nt pssible t identify the prfile f the respnders. As a result, we can t knw if we have gd representatin acrss the cuntry r the percentage representing vlunteer, cmpsite, r career, In rder t mitigate these limitatins we cnducted interviews ver the phne with NAC and Bard f Directrs representatives t explre the questins in mre detail and t supprt the trends identified frm the survey. GR Week 2016 Recmmendatins Current Envirnment: There is a new gvernment in pwer with 200 new MPs that have been in their psitin fr nt very lng. As a new gvernment they are very fcused in meeting their campaign prmises and ensuring that the Minister s meet their mandates. What this means is that there is a need t: Educate the new gvernment abut the CAFC wh we are, what we d, and what has been ur relatinship with gvernment in the past (i.e. what are sme f the wins that we ve had). This is an pprtunity t build awareness nt nly abut the CAFC but als abut the fire service in Canada. Recgnize that there is very little rm t make large asks fr financial resurces fr prgrams/initiatives that d nt fllw under the annunced gvernment department mandates r campaign prmises. Thank the gvernment fr effrts being realized based n thse prmises and letters, such as HUSAR, Transprtatin f Dangerus Gds (TDG), and Mental Health. Issues: 1. TDG Taking int cnsideratin ur heavy invlvement with the Emergency Respnse Task Frce frm Transprt Canada and related wrk n this file, GR week is a great pprtunity t fficially lunch the nline standardized prgram fcused n emergency preparedness fr rail incidents invlving flammable liquids in Canada. This prgram, develped in cllabratin with the Canadian Petrleum Prducers, is a gd example 4
f what can be achieve when wrking in cllabratin with key stakehlders. A public event with the Minister f Transprt wuld bring the issue t the frefrnt and wuld highlight the rle f CAFC in making things like this happen. During meetings we wuld discuss the annuncement as well as the need fr the next level (peratinal hands-n training). Based n recent questins by the Minister, members shuld be prepared t discuss the Real Time infrmatin issue. 2. Building Cdes Last year we brught the issue f sprinklers in care facilities. Mst prvinces have nw implemented legislatin t require them s we shuld nt bring it again. The issue f mandatry residential sprinklers is a cmplex ne that will required a cmplex implementatin strategy and, as such, it is nt advisable t verwhelmed the new MPs with this tpic. Taking int cnsideratin that Gdale previusly intrduced a private member s bill related t the Firefighter Safety bjective this wuld be a gd time t wrk jintly with the CAFC Cdes Cmmittee and the IAFF t identify hw t bring this issue frward during GR week. 3. Mental Health Cnsidering the prminence f this file acrss Canada, this is a gd time t educate gvernment f the wrk that CAFC is ding in this area (i.e. ur radmap strategy and the wrk n R2MR), and the need fr natinal crdinatin n training standards and legislatin. 4. HUSAR - Mnitr the develpment f the HUSAR file leading up t GR week and: (a) thank the gvernment if actins has been taken as per the mandate letter; r (b) remind the gvernment f its cmmitment t the file and the reasn why we need federal supprt. 5. First Natins - have a targeted apprach rather than making it ne f the tp issues we bring t every MP. In cnsultatin with Blaine Wiggins and the Abriginal Firefighters Assciatin we shuld identify key MPs and bureaucrats we shuld meet with, as well as key messages, and we shuld develp a separate advcacy package, 5