Steinbach fire chief honoured with King Charles III medal
Advertisement
Steinbach’s fire chief has been awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his service on the Canadian Municipal Association of Fire Chiefs National Advisory Council.
Chief Kelvin Toews received the medal recently. He said the council advises the government on legislation that affects firefighters. Everyone on the council represents their province and all received a medal.
“It’s an honour to receive any kind of recognition whether it’s a medal or a pat on the back locally. It gives you a good feeling that you’re appreciated and the work that you do is important,” he said.
Toews is a 33-year veteran of the fire department; 11 of those years he has spent as chief. He said issues facing firefighters are mental health, cancer, and health in general. Nationally, he said there should be a national fire advisor for the country as most Western countries have one to advise government when there are fires, such as forest fires.
“They would be used for consultation, distribution of resources, and that sort of stuff. It’s basically another voice for the firefighters,” said Toews.
Right now, Steinbach has a crew of 48 volunteer firefighters. Toews said in the future there could be a full-time crew of firefighters.
“It is coming in the future. We don’t know how long whether it’s five years, 10 years, but we need to be ready because it’s not something that you flick a switch and we have a full-time fire department.”
Toews said to be a firefighter it takes a lot of dedication, training, and a certain attitude of wanting to serve the community.
“You can’t just want this as a job. You have to love it. You have to serve your community and there’s the need to help people. You have to have the love of people to do this job.”
“Being a firefighter, it is a tough job and it’s getting increasingly tougher, but it is well worth a person’s investment, their time, the reward you get, the satisfaction you get out of helping people, it trumps anything else, any of the hardships that may come along with it.”
Twenty people in Provencher will receive the King Charles III Coronation Medal this year. The medal is given to commemorate the coronation of the King. To receive the medal a person must have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada and must have been alive on May 6, 2023.