Blaine Blackie says the leader of the Nova Scotia Firefighters School has never spoken to him, not once in the five years since his son, Skyler Blackie, died because of a faulty fire extinguisher at the school.
The only family members John Cunningham, the executive director of the school, has spoked to are Blaine’s son and daughter, who attended one of the school’s court-ordered safety presentations.
“He has never once tried to contact us or approach us in any way. My wife and I have never talked to him,” said Blaine Blackie.
“It’s just very frustrating and disappointing that these people that are responsible for training our firefighters safely, just they, they seem to act so nonchalantly,” he said.
The union for Halifax firefighters is calling for Cunningham and the school’s board of directors to resign, union vice-president Joe Triff told our newsroom Friday.
Blaine’s family recently brought a lot of attention to the school’s ongoing safety issues. They created an online petition, which as of has, and revealed a third-party investigation found 41 safety infractions at the school.
The Occupational Health and Safety division of the Labour Department soon ordered the school to stop working.
However, the school made some changes to their documentation and were allowed to resume classes, according to a social media post.
“With the OHS’s approval, we are fully cleared to resume classes as scheduled. This process reaffirms our commitment to maintaining the highest safety standards for everyone at The Nova Scotia Firefighters School,” the school wrote.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout this review. We’re excited to continue providing top-notch training and ensuring a safe learning environment for all.”
Family not confident in leadership
However, the Labour Department clarified that only some of the school’s programs are operational again. Notably, their propane equipment is still locked and will be until the school complies with Fuel Safety Regulations, the department wrote in an email last week.
They are also not permitted to “offer the entry-level occupational-training under the Private Careers Colleges Act,” the email said.
Blaine said leaving those details out says a lot about the school’s leaders.
They don’t mention that some of their operations are still not up and running, which the province confirmed. [DETAILS]
He was also frustrated that the school promised to change for years, but after a stop work order, they made significant change in less than a month.
Blaine also said he’s had some conversations with government ministers about the school, and he thinks they might sit down soon as a group to discuss the future of the school and how to make proper changes, so people would have confidence in the safety of the school again.
“In his memory and in his honour, we couldn’t let this go. We had to fight. And we will continue until we get that school run safely. We just don’t feel confident in the ability of the current leadership of that school to do so.”
“We need to have it changed.”
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