While the Montana Consulting Group’s full workplace assessment of Sackville Fire & Rescue is cloaked in secrecy, its 20 recommendations are almost an open book.

The recommendations have not been officially made public, but former Sackville CAO Jamie Burke told Warktimes in 2022 that most are reflected in the new fire department bylaw passed by town council nearly four years ago.

In 2021, firefighters also received an oral briefing on the recommendations and several, including Kevin Scott, took detailed notes.

“We know what the 20 recommendations are. We know how many recommendations were implemented. We know how many haven’t,” he wrote on his Facebook page on February 7th.

Scott, who now volunteers with the fire department in Point de Bute, has been posting what he calls “A Daily Dose of Montana” on Facebook ever since.

His “daily doses” along with changes in the bylaw make it clear the consultants recommended shifting power and control away from the volunteers while placing it in the hands of the fire chief and CAO.

Key recommendations

—firefighters became part-time employees with higher wage rates.

— as employees, they are subject to the town’s social media use policy which bans any commentary that would reflect badly on how the town is run.

Judging by his Facebook posts, Kevin Scott is especially concerned about a recommendation that under the town bylaw, all personnel issues would fall under the sole jurisdiction of the fire chief or the CAO.

“Let that one sink in for a minute!” Scott writes.

“Who does a firefighter go to when the issue is with both the CAO and the chief? When the two have each other’s backs, it makes for frustrating situations!” he adds.

“It’s frustrating to know how many issues that have been going on at the fire department over the last 10 years or more, that council has never been made aware of.

“Why is the position of the CAO so powerful that they don’t have to inform council of issues going on with the town?” he asks.

Other recommendations that were followed

—the old fire department constitution and internal bylaws, which gave firefighters the right to elect their own officers as well as a say in the hiring of new members, was eliminated and a formal hiring process was put in place.

—standard operating guidelines developed over the years by the firefighters were replaced by policies and procedures written by the chief in consultation with firefighters and the CAO and approved by town council.

—the grievance committee, which had never been set up, was replaced with a complaint procedure requiring volunteer firefighters to discuss their complaints with the chief and then, with the CAO.

Recommendations not followed

Kevin Scott points to one Montana recommendation that appears to be based on the consultants’ interviews with firefighters.

“This recommendation talks about following up during meetings on issues that were brought up through the chain of command or directly to the fire chief or the CAO to ensure accountability,” he writes.

“As a firefighter at Sackville Fire & Rescue, quite often we would bring up issues that would never get resolved or followed through and this recommendation was to help prevent that from happening,” he adds.

“Problem is, it hasn’t been implemented yet, which means the accountability is not there. It is one of the most important components of a fire scene, yet not important enough for the fire station?”

Scott says a key recommendation on favouritism within Sackville Fire & Rescue hasn’t been implemented either.

The Montana Consultants called on the town to revise the bylaw to establish formal rules to apply to all firefighters equally and if a complaint arises, there should be a meeting to discuss how to proceed with an investigation.

“Considering how many firefighters publicly stated this was happening within the fire department, I am disappointed that this recommendation hasn’t been implemented,” Scott writes.

“In my opinion, one of the more important recommendations from the Montana report was that the CAO should get feedback from firefighters, officers and other town employees who regularly interact with the fire chief. It was also considered that it should be done at least every three years. Many firefighters first met the CAO, who’s been in that position for over three years, after the 12 dropped their pagers off at town hall last month,” Scott writes.

“This is one of the easiest recommendations to implement and one of the more important ones. Had this been done, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he adds. “Could have saved the taxpayers a lot of money had this recommendation been implemented.”

For previous coverage, click here.