A local firefighter is asking that a consultants report on the fire department go directly to Sackville’s mayor and council, instead of getting filtered through CAO Jamie Burke’s office.
Volunteer firefighter Laura Thurston made the request at town council’s July discussion meeting on Monday night.
Since May, consultants from Moncton have been working on a comprehensive workplace assessment of the Sackville Fire Department. The assessment was commissioned after numerous allegations of bullying and sexism came to light in a series of stories by local journalist Bruce Wark.
Wark spoke to several former firefighters who said they tried many times over the course of years to bring their concerns to the attention of the town’s management, including former CAO Phil Handrahan and current CAO Jamie Burke. Thurston says she tried to meet with CAO Jamie Burke regarding her particular issues, but a meeting was denied.
The CAO’s place at the top of the “chain of command” is part of the reason Thurston sees the current path of the assessment, with a complete confidential report going to the CAO who would then summarize it for council, as a potential “conflict of interest.”
Hear Laura Thurston in conversation on Tantramar Report:
“In this case, I feel that the Chief Administrative Officer being the administrator for the workplace assessment creates a conflict of interest because he is a direct chain of command official for the members of Sackville Fire and Rescue,” says Thurston. “He is one of the people that we go to, that we report to, that we deal with on a regular basis. So my request to council, and I feel it’s very fair, is that they discuss, and consider approving, obtaining a full, detailed report directly from Montana Consulting, and not obtain that report from the Chief Administrative Officer.”
Mayor Shawn Mesheau’s response to Thurston’s request was lukewarm. Mesheau said he felt council should wait until the process being conducted by Montana Consulting was complete before discussing the matter with the CAO.
“Council is not in a position to move forward with anything further,” said Mesheau. “I think it’s best at this time that we allow the process to complete. And then, at that point in time, have the opportunity to discuss that with the CAO, once that report is provided.”
Thurston says she was not surprised by the response. “It was a very politically correct response, which is what I kind of anticipated,” says Thurston. “My request to council tonight wasn’t to get an answer tonight, it was simply for them to know that this is my request. And it won’t be the last time that I speak with them about it.”
One concern she had was Mesheau’s stress that once the process was complete, council would be getting their report via the CAO. “I feel that’s unacceptable,” says Thurston. “I think that my request to get that report independently [to council] themselves is fair. And I would simply expect an answer as to why they don’t feel that they can do that,” she says.
“To me, it makes me feel like we’re being acknowledged and respected, and that they’re taking this seriously,” says Thurston. “And we have been asked to take it seriously. So I think there’s just expectations on both sides.”
Thurston says that while her concern is that there is a conflict of interest with the CAO overseeing the assessment, it’s not personally about Jamie Burke. “This isn’t a direct reflection on the Chief Administrative Officer, by any means,” says Thurston. “We’re all in this for a common goal,” she says, “to make the fire department better, to make it the place that we all know that it can be.”
“The work that we do is something that we’re all very proud of and very passionate about,” says Thurston, who is a five-year veteran of the Sackville Fire Department.
Thurston is hoping the workplace assessment, and the actions that stem from it, will make the fire department a better workplace environment. “I don’t want the work to stop at the report and recommendations. I expect to see an action plan,” says Thurston. “I want us to be part of the solution, and I would like to town to include us in that collaboration.”
