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2007 News and Information
BC Human Rights Tribunal Approves Richmond Fire-Rescue’s Recruitment Strategy
10 October 2007The City of Richmond’s application to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for a special program to allow the City to preferentially recruit and hire women and visible minority fire fighters was recently approved.
“Over the past year, Richmond Fire-Rescue has worked on all levels towards laying a strong and solid foundation upon which to hire more women and visible minorities,” explains Phyllis Carlyle, General Manager Law and Community Safety. “This decision provides the department the ability to better reflect the community it serves and does not exclude or eliminate Caucasian men.”
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal decision states: “This special program approval provides that, for up to 75% of available vacancies per year, the City may recruit, including advertising and hiring women and visible minority candidates who meet fire fighting testing standards on a preferential basis for fire fighter vacancies arising in 2007 to 2010 inclusive.”
The Tribunal also approved a special program to reserve and provide services respecting two fire fighter positions for one woman and one visible minority person who meet all of the qualifications and standards for a fire fighter except the completion of the Justice Institute Fire Academy training course. The program will lend the candidates their tuition to attend the course, provide a minimum wage while they attend the course, and reserve a vacant fire fighting position pending the candidate’s completion of the course.
As part of the application to the Human Rights Tribunal, the City notified interested third party organizations of its intentions under its application and asked for their feedback. the responses articulated support for the City’s objective of achieving a diverse work force that was free from discrimination.
A provision of the approval requires the City to provide the Human Rights Tribunal annual reports indicating the number of positions that specify a preference for women or visible minority candidates, the number of persons hired who were members of the preferred groups and the number of fire fighter vacancies available that year. The first report is due February 1, 2008.
At the time of the application, of the 191 fire fighters in Richmond Fire-Rescue, eight were visible minority males and two were female members who were in non-fire fighter duties. In 2007, Richmond Fire-Rescue recruited two females, seven visible minorities and 11 Caucasian males.
Richmond Fire Rescue plans to hire up to 10 additional fire fighters by early 2008. The search for a new Fire Chief has also begun using the services of a national professional recruitment firm.
