Firefighters, council were wise to put community first

Magnetawan has a fire department once again. That is good news for the citizens of the municipality on a few levels.

First and foremost is the matter of public safety. A community needs a fire department, and the sort of team you will find in most municipalities cannot be put together overnight. Most are built over decades. Magnetawan council was wise to realize this. No dispute is worth losing something like that.

Things could have been worse. Either side could have held out, but in the end, communication was the answer. People spoke and people listened. The air was cleared and new understandings were reached. Amid all the buzzwords and management systems of this day and age, it all comes down to simple human dialogue.

That seems to be the weakness of Mayor Dick Smith and his council, and it has been a factor in most of the conflicts that have sprung up in Magnetawan. This was perfectly illustrated by the firefighters' repeated plea to “be straight with us.” That should be printed on a sign and posted in the council chamber as a reminder. Council would run into far fewer difficulties if that became their motto.

Loosen up. Include people. Talk to them person-to-person. Don't be afraid to lose a little face. And don't call a lawyer when saying “I'm sorry” would be cheaper. Being uptight makes everything harder, and it gives people the impression that you're up to something.

Be straight with people.

It seems that message might finally have been taken to heart. That is also good news, and if it took a walkout by the fire department to drive the point home, then maybe it was worthwhile. Sometimes things need to come to a head before people say what needs to be said. Hey, that rhymes.

Could this be a turning point for Magnetawan council? We can only hope.

The firefighters should likewise be commended. Their walkout, while it was a scary proposition for the community, was in some ways inspiring. With the organized labour we have today, we don't often see the pure phenomenon that created unions – workers standing together of their own free will to protest what they believe to be unfair treatment. It's a far cry from the labour movement as we know it today, and there is a certain comfort in knowing it can still happen in this country.

That said, we should all thank them for coming back to the table so quickly. There can be no doubt that what they wanted most of all was to get back on the job. There are no unwilling volunteer firefighters. They aren't in it for the money. They want to do it. We can only try to imagine how difficult it was for them to give up something so important on principle. They are undoubtedly as glad to be back on the job as the community is to have them back.

When you get right down to it, public safety is the top priority of the fire department. And it is the top priority of council. It might have taken something as serious as a walkout to remind them that they had this in common, but when the safety of the community was at stake, there could be no doubt that both sides would do what was necessary to end the conflict.

And that's good news for everybody.