Following City of Lethbridge Council’s decision to not accept the new provincial contract conditions for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), work has been ongoing to preserve the City’s integrated Fire and EMS system.
This includes discussions with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union.
ALTA Paramedic Health (APH), formerly Emergency Health Services (EHS) – Alberta, has indicated the City’s EMS services are more costly than its benchmark.
One of the main drivers of this difference is wages. In some instances, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services employees staffing ambulances make close to 40 per cent higher than the EHS benchmark.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen said the IAFF union has refused the City’s proposal for wage adjustments, and “that would have helped us fall closer in-line with the rest of the province.”
Hyggen shared there’s still many unknowns, but the City still remains open for further conversations with the IAFF on how to work together to maintain integrated Fire and EMS.
“We’re looking at all other cost-saving initiatives. We’re preparing for a potential procurement process, which is said to come out at the end of this month for delivering EMS services within Lethbridge,” he added.
Operationally, Hyggen explained the current system is solid and provides excellent care for the community. “Where it’s broken is on the side of financial sustainability. As a contractor of this service, we cannot continue to get less from the province and absorb the rising operating costs. Changes need to be made to make this system viable.”
EMS has always been the responsibility of the provincial government since 2009, Hyggen noted.
“In Lethbridge, the City is the contractor by the province to provide this service. The province sets the service levels and budget provided, providing EMS across Alberta,” he said.
The communities of Red Deer, Strathcona County, and St. Albert did accept the contract conditions put out by the province, Hyggen pointed out. “While Spruce Grove, Leduc, and Lethbridge didn’t accept the province’s contract conditions.”
“We don’t know the ins and outs of the other cities, so it’s hard to comment on them, and their finances. We have done the financial analysis for Lethbridge, and it’s not a sustainable solution for our city,” Hyggen added.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a reduction in wages for City Council members, and many staff and administration also took a wage cut, Hyggen said.
“We compare the wages. For council remuneration, we take many of the similar-sized communities, and I think there’s about 10 of them we compare with, we take the highest number and the lowest number, and take an average of the middle, so we fit in-line with remuneration with the rest of the province,” he explained.
This is a similar exercise that’s done within the City’s administration, Hyggen noted.
“We do check into that to make sure it’s competitive. These folks, all of them, need to be paid for what they’re worth. They’re absolutely doing a great job. We just need to be competitive with the rest of the province,” Hyggen said. “We’ll dig deeper into this when it comes to our budget time.”
Hyggen said every job with the City is an important job. “A life-saving job is very important, but also a desk job is important, as well. They could be working on our water and wastewater infrastructure, so we don’t have catastrophic failures. Every job has a duty to do the best they possibly can and be paid accordingly.”
Time and time again, the City has heard residents say they want fire and emergency services, policing, and “we want our taxes to be lower,” Hyggen noted. “Sometimes, all of those three don’t work all well together, so we’re trying to find that balance, and it’s just a struggle.”
More information and background are available at getinvolvedlethbridge.ca/ems-contract.
