2026 Charlottetown Municipal Election Questionnaire

The City needs to listen to the needs of firefighters directly from the frontline workers (Chief, career firefighters and volunteers) and respond in a timely manner.  There have been delays on the request for a new station which has resulted in an increase in the cost to build due to inflation resulting from the pandemic and now a tariff war with the US.  Delays are increasing the cost to build. 

The current official plan doesn’t mention firefighting infrastructure nor does it take into account firefighting coverage in determining where the development should take place.

There was a location by the CAT dealership that was bought to house the new firehall but it is not specifically laid out in the new official plan.  Mayor Brown has mentioned other uses for this land if it does become surplus. A concern I have about the location of that firehall is the current state of John Yeo Drive which is a private road and is not maintained by the city. This road would be a critical through way for the hall because it would give it a second exit which would be particularly critical in heavy traffic flow on Malpeque road.

With the 2026-27 budget providing $6 million towards a new third fire station and $2 million for a new fire truck, the City will continue to build on this to address staffing, equipment and ongoing operating costs required to support the needs of a growing city.

Growth and expansion without considering the needs of our emergency services is not a plan. All city projects must account for the added strain on our emergency services and how they may be impacted.

We have to plan fire and emergency services at the same time we plan growth, rather than trying to catch up afterward.

I am already committed to immediately adding four full-time professional firefighter positions. My intention is that those firefighters also be qualified or trained as paramedics, developed in cooperation with the Province, Island EMS and the Fire Chief so that the clinical, licensing, dispatch and patient-transfer arrangements are properly established.

That provides additional guaranteed personnel on duty while preserving and strengthening the volunteer complement.
Beyond staffing, we need the third station, appropriate apparatus, adequate water and hydrant capacity, and a much stronger approach to emergency readiness.

Charlottetown also contains risks that are different from an ordinary residential fire, including major petroleum, propane and utility fuel-storage facilities. Our equipment, training and emergency planning have to reflect the risks that actually exist in the city.

I would fund a dedicated industrial flammable-liquid fire suppression capability for those higher-risk areas, with the Fire Chief determining the appropriate equipment, suppression agent, staffing and deployment model.

We need a plan, and then we need to follow it. Charlottetown has grown, but our fire service has not kept pace. Staffing and infrastructure are overdue. The third station is important, but a building without firefighters and equipment will not solve the problem.

We need a fully costed Fire Master Plan based on the Fire Underwriters Survey, the advice of our Fire Chief, information from our frontline firefighters and the needs of a growing city. It should have timelines, and Council should report publicly on the progress.

We also need to address the difference in service across Charlottetown. Residents pay taxes to the same City and should be able to expect comparable immediate fire protection. Your address should not decide how quickly an effective response reaches you.

There are key areas that should be in place and monitored to ensure the city keeps pace with that growth including:

• benchmarks for baseline performance, measuring deployment and travel times,
• forecast where future incidents are most likely to occur based on zoning,
• identify specific risks in newly developed zones and adapt prevention programs accordingly,
• strategic placement of third station, and
• ensure industry staffing standards.

Paramount to keeping pace, we need well trained fire fighters and personnel, the best equipment resources the city can afford, and ongoing quarterly reviews to monitor our services going forward

I see value in continuing to expand the number of positions we pay to staff, and that is something I am committed to seeing happen. In the long term to sustain good service and keep up with modern issues I think expanding training opportunities, investing in better equipment to deal with electrical fires much like were seen in Summerside recently and with the growing number of electric vehicles having the potential for runaway fires. We also have seen a growth in the height of buildings around the city, seeing expansion to the apparatus available for high-rise rescue. I would also like to see biohazard response become part of the available training (Last I knew any response for such event had to come in from New Brunswick, but that may have changed since).