Sudbury's EMS to tackle controversial subjects in coming year

Morning North6:02City councils in Sudbury and Timmins

City councillors in Greater Sudbury are examining the idea of further blending work done by paramedics and firefighters. In Timmins, city council discussed street lights. We have audio of discussions on both subjects.​Sudbury's emergency services department is set to look at ways to further blend the work of firefighters and paramedics.

But the city's chief of emergency services Tim Beadman told city council at its meeting Monday night that to do so it would first involve in-depth conversations with the unions for each group.

"Now that's a really touchy area. It involves a lot of work yet to be done."

Another touchy topic that's coming up again is area rating — the name for the city policy that sees the outlying areas of Greater Sudbury pay fewer taxes because they're served by volunteer firefighters.

City council asked staff to write up a report on area rating and bring it back for debate later this year.