CamBay firefighters resign en masse

JOHN THOMPSON

Cambridge Bay’s fire chief and 12 other firefighters resigned last Wednesday, following an ongoing feud with the hamlet’s senior administrative officer.

Keith Morrison, the resigning fire chief, cited ongoing conflicts with the hamlet’s SAO, Mark Calliou, as reason for the mass resignation.

Calliou did not return phone calls to Nunatsiaq News before press time this Wednesday. Mayor Michelle Gillis was away on travel, and deputy mayor Stephanie Briscoe did not return phone calls, either.

But Briscoe told radio and other newspapers that the hamlet had quickly hired some 10 to 12 firefighters with past training and experience, so the community remains protected in the case of a fire.

Without those replacement firefighters, the several remaining firefighting staff would be limited to hosing down a burning building from the outside, and preventing neighbouring buildings from catching fire, rather than being able to enter a burning building to extinguish the fire.

Briscoe has also said that the hamlet plans to begin a recruitment drive for the fire department soon.

As Morrison tells it, he and fellow firefighters became upset after a conflict with Calliou following a fire near the Glad Tidings Church on Aug. 29.

As Morrison and the fire truck driver drove to the scene of the fire, they found the road blocked by a hamlet vehicle and a white truck, he said.

Later Morrison made comments at the scene about “the idiot” who blocked the road. The driver of the white truck turned out to be Calliou, who said in an email to hamlet employees the following day that the firefighters drove recklessly – something that Morrison denies.

This led to the resignation of Morrison’s driver, which prompted the fire chief to confront the SAO in his office. As he began to leave, Morrison said that Calliou began to shout at him in front of members of the public.

“He said, I have no balls because I didn’t go into his office,” Morrison said.

“I told him, the next time he wants to talk fiction, I know a good editor.”

Beyond personality conflicts, Morrison said he and other firefighters lost faith that Calliou would stand behind them in the event of an injury, to a firefighter or a member of the public, at the scene of an accident, which could lead to a civil suit.

“We can’t be worrying, ‘If something happens, am I going to get a knife in my back?’” Morrison said.

He points to Yellowknife, where the fire chief and deputy were charged by the Workers Compensation Board of the NWT this March for violating the Safety Act, in a case that resulted in the deaths of two firefighters.

This is the second time this year that Cambridge Bay’s fire chief has resigned, citing irreconcilable differences with Calliou. In March 2006, Peter Laube stepped down as fire chief, along with his deputy.

The firefighters delivered their letter to Cambridge Bay’s hamlet council on Tuesday, Aug 29, and met with councilors to discuss their concerns on Wednesday for several hours.

In the end, council decided to stand behind their SAO.

“Personally, I’m disappointed,” Morrison said of council’s decision.

“I’m definitely of the personal opinion that it’s in the best interest of the hamlet to get rid of Mark Calliou,” Morrison said.

The firefighters handed in their radios and keys on Wednesday last week.

Shortly afterwards, hamlet employees changed the locks on the fire hall – a move that Morrison took as one final insult.

“What were they worried of? That we’d… go and randomly rescue people?” he asked.

“I’m really completely and utterly disgusted by the thought that they think we’d do anything.”