The union representing Victoria firefighter Josh Montgomery has confirmed he is being suspended for one day without pay due to the content of a letter Montgomery sent to Premier David Eby.
“There has been misinformation that has been circulated amongst the public regarding employment matters with one of our members. Local 730 can confirm that a member, Josh Montgomery, was disciplined for his opinions shared in a letter to Premier Eby,” the union said in a statement.
Local 730 of the International Association of Firefighters noted Montgomery’s one-day suspension without pay will be served today.
“There is a process to be followed under the collective agreement and that has been initiated,” the union said.
According to the union, it wanted to clarify the length of suspension and why it was handed down as misinformation was spreading as a result of few details being released about situation.
In a statement provided to the Times Colonist on Thursday, Premier David Eby said no one should face suspension for writing to the premier’s office.
“No one should face consequences for writing to me and if that’s the reason he was sanctioned, then he deserves an apology and back-pay from the person responsible,” Eby said. “I’ve asked staff to follow up with the firefighter’s union to see if there’s anything I can do to support.”
Eby went on to say he needs to be able to hear from people in order to do his job.
“I thank the firefighter for writing to me about his front-line perspective. I want to hear from front-line workers, first responders, and any member of the public who wants to share what they are seeing in their communities,” Eby said.
Montgomery was part of a protest at Victoria City Hall last month over the city’s role in establishing a facility at 2155 Dowler Pl. to help connect people living on the street with housing, and he wrote a letter to Eby asking him to step in and stop the Dowler Place project.
In his letter to the premier, written in the aftermath of a first responder being attacked on Pandora Avenue, Montgomery said first responders like him are seeing an escalation of aggression from individuals using social services.
The Pandora incident saw a paramedic assaulted while attending to a patient. The assault led to police and other first responders being swarmed by about 60 people. In response, paramedics and firefighters announced they would no longer go to medical calls in the area without police.
In the letter to the premier, Montgomery said “the escalating violence and alarming decisions being made by City of Victoria officials have put my life, the lives of my colleagues, and the safety of our community at severe risk.”
“The planned facility at 2155 Dowler Place is expected to serve 300 unhoused people per day — just 100 feet from where my young daughters, ages four and six, play outside our home. Not only was this facility announced without any consultation with the residents who call this area home, the city proceeded without any formal process to select the service delivery organization,” he wrote.
The city spent $300,000 to help SOLID Outreach Society buy the property just north of Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, and plans to contribute up to $1.8 million in operating funding for one year to SOLID, which will own and run the facility.
Staff will help connect people to B.C. Housing options and market rental subsidies, as well as drug-treatment programs, and will accompany people to health appointments.
A City of Victoria spokesperson said the “mayor and council have no role in the operational decisions of the Victoria Fire Department” and that as it’s a personnel matter the city will not comment.
