Volunteers should get a tax break

June 01, 2010 5:00 PM Sicamous Eagle Valley News - Opinion

Should Canada’s volunteer firefighters get special treatment from the federal government in the form of a $3,000 tax break? “Sure,” would undoubtedly be the immediate reply from anyone who has ever had to depend on the services of their local volunteer fire department.Volunteer firefighters tend to inspire the greatest trust and appreciation according to surveys comparing vocations. And yet their job is not one many are willing to do. Firefighters can and do risk their lives every time they enter a burning structure, or are out helping to quell raging interface fires. Just being exposed to the sweltering heat in either of these scenarios is difficult and dangerous enough. Firefighters are also called to road accidents to help keep a bad scene from getting worse. On top of having to deal with such natural and human tragedies, firefighters, as part of their job, must also spend hours and hours learning and refining their trade, for their own safety and the safety of others.For all this, Sicamous volunteer firefighters earn an hourly wage that varies from $8 to $20, depending on training. It’s not a wonder the department has had such a hard time recruiting.

National bodies representing Canada’s fire chiefs and firefighters have asked the federal government to give volunteer firefighters a break, and allow them to deduct $3,000 from their taxes. Shuswap MP Colin Mayes is concerned this might set a bad precedent, stating if the government “extended this tax benefit to firefighters, why not to first responders, auxiliary police, community watch, and even to other paid volunteers?”

Good question. Why not? Volunteers, regardless of what they do, are undervalued and overworked as it is. And yet so many communities depend on the work they do – the jobs nobody else wants to do, or can afford to do. We say volunteer firefighters should get a break, as should all volunteers whose sacrifices our communities depend on daily.