Although the majority of its members do not reside in Montreal, the Association des pompiers de Montréal (APM) on Tuesday gave its support to the outgoing mayor, Valerie Plante, in view of the November 7 elections.
In the company of Valérie Plante on Tuesday noon, the president of the MPA, Chris Ross, wore a vest on which was written “Pompiers pour Valérie”. The union leader maintained that under Denis Coderre’s mandate, from 2013 to 2017, the Fire Safety Service suffered successive budget cuts that undermined service delivery and reduced staff. “Valérie Plante and Projet Montréal have demonstrated a new way of doing things, especially when it comes to labor relations,” he said, praising the “respect” and “transparency” of the outgoing administration.
Valérie Plante was delighted with this support. “Having healthy working relationships is possible and it must be done with respect, listening and communication. It doesn’t have to be done in arrogance and contempt, ”she said.
Except that three quarters of firefighters do not live in Montreal and the president himself resides in Longueuil. But Chris Ross believes that this detail only distracts the debate. “Where we live and where we vote have no connection with the Association’s position. It really has a link with the health and safety of Montrealers. “
“The firefighters are still angry with me since the sacking of the town hall,” commented Denis Coderre. Recall that following this event occurred in 2014 in which several firefighters had participated, the Association had to pay the City an amount of $ 250,000 for the damage caused. “There were also issues with the reform of pension plans that we had to do,” continued Mr. Coderre. “You have to be careful when you talk about unions: there are unions and there are members. “
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