2026 Charlottetown Municipal Election Questionnaire

I would need to see the Fire Underwriters Survey assessment.  I think that investment in essential services takes priority over other investments.  I would want to see a breakdown of calls and determine if there is anything that we could proactively do to reduce the pressure of calls (false alarms).  I would like to see a heat map of where the most calls are coming from to ensure that the investment is being made at the right location.

Council must weigh the evidence, set clear priorities and be accountable for its decisions. When public safety is at risk, necessary fire-service investments must top all of our priorities.

When it comes to prioritizing projects to make our city safer, they are at the top of the list. I have no interest in big flashy vanity projects. If all I do as mayor is improve our public services and update boring infrastructure that has fallen into disrepair, then I have done my job right. I need to know what it is, how much it costs, and how soon you need this.

This is very valid considering we just put close to $40 million into Simmons and the new sports field there plus there is talk of spending $55 million or more to dress up the Eastlink Centre. We need to get our priorities straight. I would start with risk.

What can happen? How likely is it? How serious are the consequences? What is our present capability? What does the Fire Chief recommend?

What happens if we do nothing?

There is also a question of who should pay for specialized risks.

Charlottetown has facilities involving bulk petroleum, propane and other large fuel-storage risks that can require specialized municipal equipment, training and preparedness beyond that required for an ordinary property.

I would develop a lawful, risk-based fire-protection fee for facilities that create extraordinary specialized response requirements, or seek provincial authority if additional legislative authority is required.

That revenue should be dedicated to the specialized training, equipment, response capability, and mitigation required by those risks.

This is not about penalizing industry. It is about matching exceptional risk with the exceptional municipal resources required to prepare for it.

I’ve compared Charlottetown’s fire service with departments in other municipalities. What I’ve seen tells me we can do better, particularly when it comes to staffing, investment and planning.

I would still want the full picture: response times, call volumes, staffing, available equipment, coverage throughout the city and what happens when more than one emergency occurs at the same time. I would also want the Fire Chief’s advice, input from frontline firefighters and the findings of the Fire Underwriters Survey.

We don’t have to copy another municipality, but we should be willing to learn from those doing things better. If the evidence shows that our residents or firefighters are being placed at risk, then fire service investment must take priority over projects that can wait.

I would review the evidence with the CAO, Fire Chief and Council and act accordingly.

As Mayor and Council, investments that protect human life must always be top priority including clean water and wastewater systems, grid and utility reliability and emergency services infrastructure.

Numerically I would want to see data on in no particular order: Call duration, time to arrive on scene, time until fire is evaluated, time to search completion, amount of responding personnel, severity of the emergency, injuries occurred, value of property damage appx., number of persons displaced, equipment used on scene, equipment repairs/damage, distance to calls average, water/foam usage (to evaluate fire hydrant demand) appx, personnel injuries, number of vehicles dispatched per call.