Cape Breton Regional Municipality is planning to look into payments for some volunteer firefighters after concerns were raised about unfairness and accountability.

CBRM gives $432,100 to the fire departments in six former towns for distribution among volunteers, and officials say that amount has not changed since the towns and the former county amalgamated in 1995.

During budget talks last week, Coun. Gordon MacDonald said the vast difference in amounts each department gets needs to be reviewed.

“The difference in comparison is like, it’s outrageous,” the District 1 councillor told council.

MacDonald said it’s not only unfair, but it’s not clear who gets the money, considering the amounts haven’t changed but volunteer rosters likely have in the last 30 years.

“Are they volunteer service people who are servicing the CBRM today? Are they retired people? Are they deceased people?”

CBRM Fire Chief Mark Bettens told council the administration does not get an accounting of how the stipends are distributed.

“I cannot say who gets them, how much they get, what the division rate is on it,” he said.

“That is just a cheque that is sent to the volunteer department and that money is dispersed by the volunteer department themselves.”

In an interview after the budget passed at last Thursday’s council meeting, MacDonald said he has no issue with volunteers getting a bonus for their work protecting the community.

“I think everybody should get something, but my concern is the fact that those cheques are just given to the fire departments and nobody’s responsible for where those fundings are going or who gets it.”

Firefighters in the former towns of Glace Bay, Dominion, New Waterford, Louisbourg, North Sydney and Sydney Mines all receive stipends, which officials say is a carryover from the former town councils.

After amalgamation, the practice simply continued.

Meanwhile, 25 other volunteer fire departments in the former county area get nothing at all.

Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh said with 34 members in the North Sydney department, each volunteer is given about $860, with officers getting a little extra.

He said money is also deducted proportionately from the base amount if a firefighter has not attended all of the calls in the past year, and if there’s money left over, it goes toward things like a firefighters banquet.

In any case, the stipend does not even come close to covering the personal financial costs firefighters incur, or the time volunteers spend away from work and family in dangerous situations, MacIntosh said.

“The job isn’t being done for the money. The amount of money that you’re paying … firefighters to do the job that they’re doing, it’s really not a lot of money.”

The amount is a “very modest” bonus and is nothing like pay for a career firefighter, MacIntosh said.

“It certainly wouldn’t even cover gas or even ruined clothing,” he said.

“For the effort that the volunteer firefighters put in, I would think the amount of stipend that’s given certainly would still class us as a volunteer fire department.”

Westmount Fire Chief Rod Beresford, who chairs the regional chiefs association and whose volunteers do not get a stipend, said the topic has not come up at regional meetings and he’s not hearing any complaints.

“Everyone has a role to play and everyone’s doing it because they want to, so I don’t think they ever look across the room and say, ‘Well, how come they’re getting something I’m not.’ That’s just not in the nature of the members involved.”

Beresford said it would be “nice” if all volunteer firefighters received a stipend, but that’s not something that has been a priority for discussion among the regional chiefs.

Mayor Cecil Clarke said CBRM is hiring a new internal auditor to look into various financial issues, one of which will be volunteer firefighter stipends.

MORE TOP STORIES