WHEREAS Canada has 90,000 volunteer firefighters who provide fire and all hazard emergency services to their communities; in addition, approximately 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year; and
WHEREAS many of these individuals receive some form of pay on call, an honorarium, or are given some funding to cover expenses, but they do not draw a living wage from firefighting; and;
WHEREAS without volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers, thousands of communities in Canada would have no fire and emergency response coverage; and
WHEREAS in 2013, the federal government initiated a tax credit recognizing these individuals, and calling on the federal government to increase this tax credit from $3,000 to $10,000; and
WHEREAS volunteer firefighters account for 71% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders:
- The tax code of Canada currently allows volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers to claim a $3,000 tax credit if 200 hours of volunteer service is completed in a calendar year;
- This works out to a mere $450 per year, which we allow these essential volunteers to keep of their income from their regular job, $2.25 an hour;
- If they volunteer more than 200 hours, which many do, this tax credit becomes even less;
- These essential volunteers not only put their lives on the line and give their time, training and efforts to Canadians, but they also allow cities and municipalities to keep property taxes lower than if paid services were required;
- It would also help retain these volunteers in a time when volunteerism is decreasing,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Brock call upon the Government of Canada to support Bill C-310 and enact amendments to subsections 118.06 (2) and 118.07 (2) of the Income Tax Act in order to increase the amount of the tax credits for volunteer firefighting and search and rescue volunteer services from $3,000 to $10,000; and;
THAT the tax credit be amended annually by the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI); and
FURTHERMORE THAT a copy of the resolution be forwarded to Jamie Schmale, MP Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, the Association of Fire Chiefs of Ontario, and Association of Municipalities of Ontario.