Overview

• A series of assaults on Winnipeg firefighters, including a knife threat during a medical call, a pipe attack and fire truck damage, prompted the union’s multi-level campaign
• At the federal level the union is seeking a new Criminal Code offence for assaulting first responders and wants such attacks treated as aggravating factors at sentencing
• In Manitoba the union is urging passage of a First Responder Protection and Safety Act and expanded presumptive workers’ compensation for chronic mental health injuries
• Locally the union has called on the City of Winnipeg to adopt a violence-prevention policy with enhanced dispatcher-police information-sharing and high-risk address alerts, and council will vote on a resolution Thursday
• Mayor Scott Gillingham and Justice Minister Matt Wiebe have publicly endorsed the union’s demands, signaling growing political alignment behind the proposed reforms