Tonight (May 24), Huntsville Council will recognize Fire Chief Steve Hernen’s appointment as President of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs. Hernen was elected to the position by his peers, receiving 60 per cent of the vote, and said it’s an honour to have received the nod.
The Association represents the 454 municipal, unorganized, and first nations fire departments across Ontario and is the voice of the fire service when dealing with government on policy decisions, said Hernen. “It’s my job to assist in leading the organization to fulfill our members’ mandate.”
During his one-year term, Hernen will oversee the process of updating the organization’s strategic plan and “ensure we have aligned our internal resources (OAFC staff) with the strategic plan and put the right resources behind the right projects.”
Hernen will also be looking for ways to open the communication lines better with the association’s membership. “We have a new thing in our constitution this year – provincial advisory committees – and we are looking to engage more of the fire service on a regular basis in an open dialogue and discussion so we know what the issues are that they’re concerned with.”
At the association’s recent conference, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Yasir Naqvi, indicated that the Ontario government is looking at opening up the Ontario Fire Protection and Prevention Act for amendments and changes. “That will be a big project for us,” said Hernen. “We are reviewing the Act and seeing what pieces of legislation we feel are outdated. Over the last three or four years we have changed the way we train firefighters and the standards we use, and I think we are going to want to enact some of that into the legislation as well.”
Hernen said the Ontario government has also talked about installing adequacy standards into the Act. “We have a high interest to see what the government calls adequacy standards and what they are looking to do.”
This is the first time the chief of a largely volunteer department has been elected president of the organization, but Hernen said that won’t impact the way he chooses to lead. “People don’t realize that close to 90 per cent of the fire service in Ontario is volunteer. Our board has a good mix of career and composite and volunteer (departments) and I think we’ll have a balanced approach.”
Hernen thanked Huntsville’s Town Council for their support in running for the position. “They obviously see some of the benefits of being connected to government even though it’s not in Municipal Affairs and Housing. Huntsville’s name will certainly be on the page.”
He added that time spent on Association business is generally via teleconference, and any required travel costs are picked up by the Association and not local taxpayers.
Hernen has been a member of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs Board of Directors for the past five years. He was elected as President on May 4.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here.
0 Comments