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e-5052 (Employment and labour)
- Keywords
- Firefighters
- Labour code
- Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances
- Workplace health and safety
E-petition
Initiated by Todd Schierling from Delta, British Columbia
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
- Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are linked to cancer and other diseases in firefighters.
We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to
1. Amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 to prohibit the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale or import of PFAS;
2. Amend the Canada Labour Code to provide that employers of firefighters must ensure they are provided with personal protective equipment and fire suppression foam that do not contain detectable levels of PFAS;
3. Amend the definition of firefighter in the Subsection 125 (1) of the Code as follows
(i) A “firefighter” means a person regularly employed in, or appointed to, a fire department, fire marshal’s office, private fire contractor, seasonal private or public fire service, or band council, and assigned to undertake fire protection services for an employer; also, “pompier”,
(ii) Includes those who carry out fire suppression duties, whether or not those duties include the performance of other emergency services,
(iii) Includes those who carry out investigation duties respecting the cause, origin or circumstances of a fire;
4. Work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous and community-based organizations to establish a timeline and cost-sharing model to phase out firefighters’ personal protective equipment and fire suppression foam that contain any detectable levels of PFAS. As defined by the U.S. House of Representatives (HR 5987 – The PFAS Definition Improvement Act) in November 2021 to amend Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2607(a)(7)) inserted the phrase “that contains at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom,” after “perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance”.
- Open for signature
- July 2, 2024, at 10:11 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- October 30, 2024, at 10:11 a.m. (EDT)
