Summary of the October 10th 2024 ROFFA fall AGM Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am by ROFFA Vice President and meeting chair,

Perry McConnell.

All present rose for the National Anthem and remained standing as we remembered those

members who have passed away since our last meeting.

The summary of the Spring AGM held on Thursday April 18 th , 2024 (posted on the ROFFA

website) was approved by consensus (Motion by John McCarthy/seconded by Bob Foster).

ROFFA secretary Peter Hunt reported that following two calls for nominations, Chris Whitney

was the only member who put his name forward for the vacant Directors position and was

therefore acclaimed to replace John McCarthy. Peter also stated that the proposed constitution changes, if approved would mean that Directors would serve a three-year term on the board (Term expires in 2025: Bob Larochelle; Peter Hunt; Steve Brabazon. Term expires in 2026: Debbie McCabe; John Sobey; Perry McConnell. Term expires in 2027: Bob Foster; Johanne Laferriere; Chris Whitney).

Perry thanked Terry Thompson, John McCarthy, and Steve Carkner for their many years of

service to ROFFA.

Presidents report (Bob Larochelle): Bob thanked everyone for attending, Perry for the use of the hall, and the guest speakers (Chief Hutt, Frontline Steve Kingan, OPFFA Dave Andre). Bob also thanked the volunteers on Frontline One and the credit union for providing lunch. On behalf of all the members of ROFFA, Bob again thanked John McCarthy, Terry Thompson, and Steve Carkner and welcomed Marc Messier (new website manager) and Chris Whitney to the board. Bob reported that the September 10 th golf tournament at Equinelle was a huge success, a sellout as usual, and thanked our many sponsors whose generous donations provided $5,000 in prizes! Bob asked for everyone’s support in tracking down any members whose email we don’t have (about 100 are missing from our database). As we share information with the Association, this will help everyone remain aware and informed. Bob explained that ROFFA continues to expand their services in response to the needs of the members, especially WSIB (Steve Brabazon), and Funeral Protocol (John Sobey). The east and west end breakfasts are a great way to keep in touch, and we will continue with some travel planning as opportunities present.

Treasurers report (Debbie McCabe): Our account balances were presented (operating acct:

$15,626.10/apparel acct: $5,544.95/total $21,171.05). Debbie thanked our many sponsors

whose generosity ensures that ROFFA remains sustainable. Following a motion by Debbie,

seconded by Martin Bender, the treasurers report was approved.

Ottawa Firefighters Community Foundation Liaison (Johanne Laferriere): Johanne invited Brian Conway, OFFCF to join her for her report. Brian stated that they have created a partnership with Ottawa Fire, Local 162, Frontline CU, Bytown Fire Brigade, etc to ensure communications and seek advice with the goal of remaining as professional as they have always been. Johanne reported that she, Chief Colleen Woolsey, Katie Clattenburg (OFS Protocol Officer), and Lana (OFFCF Chair) met to create a plan. With much of the committee in Italy with the band during the planning phase, Johanne was grateful to all those who assisted. Johanne said that David McEvoy is in the process of producing a video of this year’s event. Brian added that the committee is looking for new people to help, that they plan to get back to fundraising, and formalize their policies.

Protocol Director (John Sobey): In addition to his role with ROFFA, John is also involved the

Ontario Firefighters Memorial (Queens Park, Toronto), the Canadian Firefighters Memorial

(Ottawa) and the IAFF Fallen Firefighters Memorial (Colorado Springs). As such, he can

confidently say our Ottawa Fire Service colleagues are well and respectfully honored at the time of their passing. Sadly, several of our members have passed away since our last meeting and thanks to a policy co-developed with our partners (Ottawa Fire and Local 162), all were properly honoured with families expressing their gratitude for the professionalism displayed. John thanked Peter Roy Smith who is doing an excellent job in his role as OFS Parade Marshal.

Website Manager (Marc Messier): Marc stated that he is grateful to have the opportunity to put his personal touch on the ROFFA website and that he has been busy adding content. In his new role with the Frontline One canteen truck, Marc reported that they have a new fridge, that they are using the app ‘who is responding’ to more efficiently get volunteers out to incidents, that more volunteers are needed, and that they have been busy supporting sponsor events in addition to emergency responses. Marc thanked all the Frontline One volunteers, in particular John McCarthy for all his assistance.

Proposed changes to the ROFFA Constitution (Peter Hunt): Peter explained that some changes to the constitution aimed at formalizing the election process and defining the term limits for Directors (three-year term) were sent out to the members through the ROFFA email. Also recommended is just one Fall annual general meeting, thus eliminating the Spring AGM. There were no replies to the proposed changes. There was a brief discussion where Peter urged that we re-imagine some form of Spring event to replace the AGM. Following a motion from Peter, seconded by Dave Quinn, the proposed constitution changes were approved (none opposed).

Ottawa Fire Services (Chief Paul Hutt): Chief Hutt thanked everyone for the opportunity to

speak today and expressed his gratitude to the Memorial teams (Ottawa and Federal) and

ROFFA for the professional way in which they represent members of the Ottawa Fire Service.

The Chief explained that OFS is currently in their 3 rd Commission on Fire Accreditation

International (CFAI) process that will see them approved until 2029. Health Canada has

announced a $12.29 million investment to combat cancer among firefighters! This will include safety standards, research, and diagnostic tools. OFS has implemented a tablet-based equipment checking and tracking system (PSTRX Inventory Management) that is dramatically improving the process. A station location study is underway with a focus on growth and future demands for service in the currently rural areas of the city. Initially, the Chief says that station 81 (Stittsville Main Street) will become a composite station next year (2025). The focus after that will be Greely and Manotick. With Fire Prevention week coming up, the Chief asks that ‘as ambassadors of the fire service’ we check on friends and family and ensure that they have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. The Chief also reported on the growing incidence of lithium-ion battery fires and the importance of not over charging them; using the correct charger; charging at room temperature and not on soft/flammable surfaces. In response to a request for questions, Perry McConnell pointed out that fire prevention is having an impact as he is seeing a decline in burn injuries at the Shriners burn hospital in Boston. Chief Hutt responded that our local Camp Bucko is also seeing fewer cases! In response to a question from the floor, the Chief responded that the recent court case has been very difficult for everyone and that he will refrain from any official comment until the close of the appeal process.

Frontline Credit Union (CEO Steve Kingan): Steve reported that cybersecurity of members is his number one priority. Last week, a service provider for all credit unions (Doxim) was hacked. Thanks to Frontlines cybersecurity measures, only one member was affected, and no useful information was obtained. Steve explained that ‘social engineering’ is the latest strategy used by hackers where they study social media and gather information sufficient to fool family members and financial institutions into believing they are the actual member. Steve urges… DO NOT PUT ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE! Debbie Hamilton is retiring, and Frontline will post information about an opportunity to say farewell in the coming weeks. Steve has hired Jackie Dempsey, a former TD bank executive with extensive experience to replace her. Steve stated that he is keeping their GIC rate at 4.75%/1 year for a couple of days in consideration of dropping rates on the horizon. With a huge number of mortgages maturing next year, Frontline wants your business! They promise to keep rates as low as possible.

Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association (President Dave Andre): In a follow-up to Chief

Hutts brief remarks earlier, Dave pointed out that much of the dialogue on social media

concerning the recent court case is false and/or misleading. He, along with the Chief are waiting on the appeal process period before commenting. United Diagnostic Services is coming to OFS for two weeks in December and will provide full diagnostic scans of the body for $350 (US). The images will be read by Ontario Physicians and all major organs are checked. This process has been very successful in detecting problems. Regarding the Health Canada grant for firefighter cancers, Dave is disappointed that it’s primarily for research rather than actual testing of members. Dave believes that Ontario will add more cancers to the presumptive list in the coming months and added that Ontario is already ahead of many provinces in this regard. Re-imagining the Spring event: With the move to one annual general meeting, the membership was asked to consider some form of event in the Spring. It was suggested that the AGM might take place in the Spring with a social event in the Fall. Following some discussion, it was agreed that ROFFA would conduct a survey to determine the wishes of the members.

Good and Welfare: Dave McEvoy stated that he recently visited Dave Blacklor and Bob Butler at St Vincents and that they would appreciate a visit, but to check with family before dropping in.

In closing, Perry thanked everyone for attending, stated that lunch will be served upstairs and asked if there were any remaining questions or comments. Hearing none, Perry received a motion from Bob Foster to adjourn the meeting at 11:30am.