Remember when...

By Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star Published: September 04, 2008

Respect used to given freely. Now it’s tossed aside with the morning trash. Whether it was your boss, your grandparents, politician or older sibling, everyone had your respect. But now respect seems to be fading as quickly as the summer’s warmth. One fine example of this is how disrespectful the District of Coldstream is coming across to taxpayers, and particularly the fire departments. The fact that the council fired a man who has dedicated himself to the community’s safety by volunteering his time for nearly 25 years is a complete slap in the face. Leo Lecavalier was dismissed as fire chief Aug. 1, and although a month has passed, community furor is still fresh. But it’s the history behind how a fire department operates that has really been disrespected.

The Coldstream Fire Department is strictly volunteer. Members do receive a small annual payment for their services. It’s far below what they deserve, but remember, they don’t do it for the money – hence the term volunteer. Like so many other departments, Coldstream’s members are screened and voted in by the membership. It is also the membership who votes on the chief. Coldstream council claims it has final approval on the chief and every member. While that may be true, the dismissal of a chief is traditionally not a role any municipality takes on. The fact that council rammed a decision down the throat of the fire department, against its members' wishes, is beyond disrespectful to every one in the department. Council not only disrespected the membership’s decision to have Lecavalier as their chief, but council did it behind closed doors, without first consulting with those very members who voted the fire chief in. Double slap.

Then there is the simple fact that these are our community’s heroes. They are the ones who brave the hellish face of fire to save our homes, our landscape, our environment, our lives. History will show you that firefighters have always been highly respected in society. Don’t Coldstream’s firefighters and fire chief deserve the same respect? Another act of disrespect comes to both the department and the entire community as council hides behind a door of secrecy. Due to in-camera legislation which protects the employee (Lecavalier) they will not discuss why the chief was fired. That only leaves residents to come up with their own conclusions, and the longer council remains silent the deeper those conclusions will sink in. On top of that, Coldstream’s administrative staff will not allow the residents to voice their opinions to their elected officials at a public council meeting.

One slap for freedom of speech (actually two, if you go with a conclusion many have formulated – that Lecavalier was fired because he spoke up over displeasure of how the fire department building process was handled). While the public’s voice is being muzzled on this issue (along with the firefighters who have been told not to discuss the situation with the media), you can write a letter and council will consider it at an in-camera meeting. All these slaps are adding up to a heaping pile of disrespect. Not just for the fire department or the community, but for the District of Coldstream – staff, councillors, administration and all. Because in the end, most people will not only lose their respect for the district, but their trust too. With so much disrespect, it can only breed more harsh feelings, which is in turn putting respect further along the endangered species list. It sure makes you miss the good old days when high regard was respected.