Victoria firefighters met with Premier Eby last week and anticipate another meeting shortly to continue discussions about the temporary suspension of one member and ongoing downtown safety concerns.
Eby spoke out after Josh Montgomery was disciplined, saying no one should be suspended for writing to him.
“I think that when you have a first responder, like a firefighter, who writes to the Premier and says, ‘Listen, I’ve got these concerns. I want you to take action in these different ways,’ the last thing that should happen is that person should be disciplined for doing that,” Eby said on CFAX radio Thursday.
“I can’t do my job as Premier if people can’t share information with me, can’t share their perspective with me.”
One of the difficulties in being Premier is becoming insulated from people on frontline, he said.
“You have to really make sure that you’re in contact with people … And I just can’t have a scenario where people will not reach out to me because they think they’re going to be disciplined.”
Montgomery wrote Eby about his unhappiness about a lack of consultation around opening a facility on Dowler Place, in his own neighbourhood, to connect unhoused people with housing and treatment. Dowler runs east of Blanshard Street and crosses Bay Street.
He outlined worries about first responders’ safety downtown and said aggression is increasing. He referred to a case where a first responder was attacked while trying to help someone on Pandora Avenue.
Montgomery and Jeremy Wilson, president of Local 730 of the International Association of Firefighters, met with Eby.
The union earlier confirmed Montgomery was suspended because of his letter.
During the meeting, Eby said he would review the details raised in the letter. “He expressed empathy for Montgomery’s safety concerns and the lack of public consultation regarding the proposed Dowler Place facility,” the union said in a statement released Thursday.
Wilson told Eby the union is disputing the suspension through a process set out in the collective agreement.
“Wilson, Montgomery and Premier Eby will have a follow-up in-person meeting in the near future to further explore how the Premier may be able to assist with the safety concerns brought to his attention and the ongoing threat to our first responders while responding to emergencies.”
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto is meeting with Wilson on Sept. 13, a city spokesperson said.
Alto has said she had nothing to do with the supension and this is a local government matter.
