Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma paid tribute to a long-time Paris firefighter on Monday.
Michael “Mac” MacCormack, a devoted husband, father and grandfather, died April 25, 2024. He was 69.
“Mac was a firefighter in Paris for 26 years and was also involved in training,” Bouma said reading from MacCormack’s death notice. “He worked at Conestoga College in the Pre-Fire Service Program for 12 years and loved helping students become firefighters.”
A funeral for MacCormack will be held Tuesday (April 30). The notice states donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated.
Bouma read the notice at the Brantford Fire Hall Number 2 during a press conference held by David Piccini, Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
Piccini visited Brantford to announce plans to introduce legislation that will extend existing presumptive WSIB coverage for cancers, heart injuries and PTSD to wildland firefighters and investigators.
The legislation, if passed, will also expand the presumptive coverage to firefighters and fire investigators for skin cancer. It will also lower the service time required to receive compensation to 10 from 15 years.
Under the legislation, certain cancers heart injuries and PTSD are presumed to be work-related ensuring those who need support have easier access to WSIB benefits.
“Our government is serving those who serve by expanding cancer coverage and ensuring wildland firefighters have the same health coverage that municipal firefighters do,” Piccini said.
Firefighters and fire investigators throughout the province put their lives on the line to keep communities safe and deserve stronger and more expansive coverage, Piccini said.
More than 1,000 people worked as wildland firefighters and investigators across Ontario in 2023, a year that saw 741 forest fires burn 440,000 hectares in the province.
Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma, Mayor Kevin Davis and Greg Horton, president of the Ontario Professional Firefighters Association, and several Brantford firefighters attended the announcement and said it is welcome news.
“Studies have show that firefighters have a 21 per cent higher risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, even though it represents only one per cent of all skin cancers,” Horton said. “ They also have a higher risk of other types of skin cancers.
“The current latency period is 15 years.”
Horton said Ontario firefighters are developing serious melanomas earlier, making them ineligible for compensation under the current system.
The changes will ensure fairer treatment for firefighters who face health issues and their families.
“We applaud the government for expanding the coverage to include wildland firefighters who also are at risk due to their occupation,” Horton said.
Bouma said the measures will provide security and support to those who serve communities with courage and dedication on a daily basis.
The new proposals were also applauded by Steve Peters, who was Ontario’s labour minister in 2007 when presumptive WSIB coverage for firefighters afflicted with certain cancers was introduced in Ontario.
“I well remember that legislation being passed because it was supported by all three parties and passed first, second and third reading in one day,” Peters, a Liberal who served under the government of then-Premier Dalton McGuinty, recalled in a telephone interview. “I especially remember the strong advocacy for the legislation by (Brant MPP) Dave Levac and the NDP leader Andrea Horwath.