P.E.I. firefighters call on WCB to cover more cancers for female firefighters

There are calls for the Workers Compensation Board of Prince Edward Island to expand the list of cancers considered a workplace injury for firefighters to include more cancers that directly affect women.

This follows a recent announcement in Nova Scotia of an expansion of its list from six to 19 types of cancer, starting July 1. Ovarian and cervical cancer are included in the Nova Scotia list but they are not on P.E.I.'s list of 14 cancers covered for firefighters.

"The culture of the fire department has always been male-dominant, so I'm extremely excited to see there's coverage for female firefighters [in Nova Scotia] because females do play a huge part in the fire service," said Jason Woodbury, chief of the Miscouche fire department.

Woodbury said he plans to bring up the issue at the West Prince Mutual Aid meeting next month, as well as at a chiefs' meeting being planned for this month, and will request a meeting with the minister responsible to see if the same changes can be made for female firefighters on P.E.I.

He said with more women volunteering as firefighters on the Island it's important the coverage be added.

Woodbury believes it will not be difficult to convince politicians to adjust legislation, calling the Workers Compensation Act a "work in progress, a working document.

"We need to move and be progressive as well with legislation," he said.

'Women just seem to get overlooked'

Catrina Chaisson is a volunteer firefighter with the Miscouche department and says as a mother of four without health coverage through her work, following Nova Scotia's lead on coverage would mean a lot and give her peace of mind.

"It'd be great if that could relay over to P.E.I. as well. I think sometimes because the ratio of women to men is so different in the fire department that a lot of women just seem to get overlooked a bit," Chaisson said, adding she is the lone woman in her department of 42.  

The Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. says it introduced legislation in January 2019 in recognition of the inherent risks associated with firefighting and the hazardous work firefighters do.

In an email to CBC News, it said those amendments were developed in collaboration with the P.E.I. Fire Marshal, the P.E.I. Firefighters Association and the Charlottetown Fire Department and that the list of 14 cancers covered in the regulations is reviewed periodically, most recently in 2021, with no additions being considered at this time.

It does say, however, a claim outside the list could be adjudicated in the same manner as other claims.