Halifax firefighters call for new leadership, say department ignored reported abuse

The president of the Halifax firefighters union is calling for a complete leadership change at the municipal firefighting department, following years of what he says are failures in the response to allegations of abuse within the fire service.

Brendan Meagher, president of Halifax Professional Firefighters, says union members have lost faith in leadership because of the department’s long-standing attitude of indifference. The union has been going public for several weeks with its concerns.

Meagher says he recently sat in on close to a dozen interviews with firefighters who shared their concerns with an investigator mandated by the city to assess the workplace culture at the department and produce a report.

“I heard some really impactful statements,” he said about the department’s cultur