Omnibus bill would make it easier for Fort McMurray firefighters to get WCB coverage for cancer
CBC
A new bill would provide presumptive workers' compensation coverage for firefighters who develop certain cancers after fighting the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.
Firefighters diagnosed with cancer are often left trying to prove to the Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) their disease is related to their work, according to the Alberta Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics Association.
Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Minister and Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche MLA Brian Jean said he has been pushing to waive minimum exposure periods so that Fort McMurray firefighters with cancer will receive automatic WCB coverage.
"Any Fort McMurray resident can tell you how devastating this fire was to our homes, our businesses and our communities, and continues to be today," Jean said at a news conference Wednesday, his voice faltering with emotion.
The Opposition NDP made a similar proposal last year.
Jean thanked the firefighters who flooded to the community in 2016 to fight the wildfire, which surrounded the city, destroyed about 15 per cent of its structures, and prompted a mass evacuation of 80,000 people.
"Unfortunately, these efforts sometimes came at a great personal price," Jean said.
The proposed change is part of an omnibus bill tabled in the legislature on Wednesday. If passed, Bill 9, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2023, would make changes to 14 pieces of legislation in nine ministries.
Matt Osborne, president of the firefighters' association, said some were exposed to a career's worth of toxins in a couple of weeks while working to contain the Horse River wildfire around Fort McMurray.
Hundreds of buildings containing resins and plastic burned simultaneously, filling the air with hazardous chemicals, he said.
Due to the unprecedented response required, firefighters soon ran out of air canisters, putting some workers at increased risk of exposure, he said. They're also at risk of skin cancer, he said.
"It's extra hard when you're trying to battle cancer as a firefighter, and as a family — as anybody — and then trying to prove a claim that you know is related to this," he said of applying to WCB.
Firefighters need to have been on the job for five years to receive WCB coverage for primary leukemia, according to a fact sheet for workers. But some cancers require 25 years on the job to qualify for presumptive coverage.
Osborne said the family of a firefighter who died from cancer in 2018 after exposure in Fort McMurray is still negotiating with WCB to receive compensation.
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