Winnipeg councillors suspicious of fire chief's dismissal

Some Winnipeg city councillors are questioning the firing of fire chief Reid Douglas, with onesuggestingapossiblecoverup in advanceof an audit report, but Mayor Sam Katz says he doesn't know the reasons behind Douglas's dismissal.

On Wednesday, City of Winnipeg chief operating officerDeepakJoshisaid in an email to city council that Douglas was no longer employed by the city, effective immediately.

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The email did not explain why.

It's not astute to comment on something if you don't know all the information,and I don't know all the information,so I'm not commenting.- Mayor Sam Katz

Douglas, who was named chief two years ago,had beenembroiled in controversy over a unusual land swap and sale offire halls.

His dismissal comes shortly before the anticipatedrelease of a detailedaudit report onthe land swap deal. It is expected to come out in the next week and a half.

"Why we would terminate the fire chief a week before the audit's released? To me, it smacks of some kind of coverup," St. Boniface Coun. Dan Vandal said Thursday.

Vandal said Douglas should have been kept on staff to answer questions coming from the audit.

'Peculiar' timing

Charleswood-TuxedoCoun. Paula Havixbecksaid the timing of Douglas'sfiring is suspicious,giventhe release of the audit reportis imminent.

"It just seems peculiar to me that now the fire chief is mysteriously gone, within a matter or days, or perhaps even a week or two of this report being released," she said.

St. James-BrooklandsCoun. Scott Fielding also echoed Vandal's andHavixbeck's comments.

"I think it's somewhat inappropriate to take actionsagainst him a week and a half before,you know, a obviously high-profile audit is supposed to come out," he said.

"The timing of his departure is suspect, to say the least, in my opinion."

BothHavixbeck and Fielding said the decisiondoes nothing to improve the public's opinion of city hall.

"You know what else?" added Havixbeck. "It [the email to councillors] didn't even say we wish him well. He's been a firefighter for 39 years, you know."

Mayornot passing judgment

Katzsaid the firing of Douglas wasn't his decision to make and as such,he doesn't know the reason for it and won't pass judgment.

"It's not astute to comment on something if you don't know all the information and I don't know all the information, so I'm not commenting," he said.

The timing, though, wasn't great, he added.

"From the departmentshuman resources, et ceterathey may not take that stuff [the timing before an audit]into consideration. They make decisions on what's best, so there's two differentperspectives," he said.

"From a political [perspective], no it's not perfect."

Secret deal

Last November, city council killed a secretive deal that would have seen Shindico, a local property development company, exchangeland on Taylor Avenue for three other city properties.

As part of the swap, arranged byDouglas and Shindico, land on Taylor Avenue was to be swapped for two fire stations that had been declared surplus as well as a parcel of land on Mulvey Avenue.

The deal, however, didn't follow proper procedures and was never approved by city council.By the time the swap was uncovered, the city had already allowed the Fire Paramedic Service to build a new station on the Taylor property, even though Shindico still owned the land.

The city is now working to complete a deal to purchasedthe Taylor Avenue land.

Union issues statement

On Wednesday afternoon the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg issued a statement on Douglas termination.

We are not aware of the reasons for this termination at this time, the statement said.

Fire Chief Reid Douglas has over 35 years with the Winnipeg fire department, ranging from being a firefighter to being the fire chief. He has served the citizens of this great city and has risked his life in fires.

Acting chief Bill Clark will fill the role going forward.

Already on Clark's plate isworking with the firefighters union on how to curbskyrocketing overtime costs.