Full-time firefighters poll public on Sudbury fire department reform

Thousands of Sudburians got a call from a robot recently, asking them questions about the fire department.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Sudbury Professional Firefighters Association, asks how quickly citizens expect firefighters to respond to emergencies and whether they've been following the ongoing debate over the proposed "optimization plan."

It would overhaul the fire department by closing nine fire halls, stationing full-time firefighters in areas traditionally served by volunteer brigades and changing property tax rates so all Sudburians pay equally for fire service.

It has been met with opposition in the outlying areas of Greater Sudbury, where there are long traditions of volunteer firefighters, and there was a series of raucous public meetings.

Hear some of the poll for yourself:

Kris Volpel, the president of the union for full-time firefighters, says the poll was commissioned partly to get a fuller picture of public opinion that might not have come out at these meetings.

"Is it the best tool to gauge public opinion? I'm not too sure it's the very best way," he says.

The poll gathered the opinions of 4,932 people, including about 400 in each of the 12 wards.

Some Sudburians have posted on Facebook that they feel the questions are slanted in favour of full-time firefighters, including whether or not they'd want the fastest response possible if a daycare or seniors home was on fire.

Hear more on why the firefighters union commissioned this poll:

Marc Morin, the chief union steward for Sudbury's volunteer firefighters, feels the survey questions are "disrespectful" of his members and miss the main issue of balancing quick response times with the cost to taxpayers.

"If you want to have full-time firefighters across the city the cost is going to escalate quite a bit," says Morin.

Volpel feels the survey is fair and asks pertinent questions, but says it's hard to reflect such a robust and complex issue in such a short poll.

"I think that they're good questions that were asked, but gosh, it could take a thousand to address every issue as it relates to fire service delivery in Sudbury," he says.

For more on the volunteer firefighters response to the survey, click here:

Volpel and Morin do agree that while the optimization plan has pitted the two groups against each other, the debate over the future of the fire department doesn't have to be adversarial.

"I don't think it has to be an us versus them," says Morin.

"The way it's laid out kind of puts us in that position, but it doesn't have to be that way."

The full-time fire union plans to share its poll results with city councillors, and all Sudburians, before the optimization plan comes before council on April 26.