The Mesachie Lake Citizens group is demanding that their community’s former fire chief and his deputy be reinstated.
Members of the group braved the rain and the cold on Wednesday to hold a rally in front of the Cowichan Valley Regional District headquarters in Duncan urging the district to rehire former fire chief Gary Eve and his former deputy chief Owen Robertson.
Organizer Brenda Bernhardt said it’s fitting that the rally was held on Anti-Bullying Day.
She said the group rallied to remind the CVRD’s board of directors that it was elected to protect the public, not to endanger her community.
“It’s exciting to be part of a democracy,” Bernhardt said as she marched with more than a dozen others.
“The CVRD’s board must fulfill the laws of this province and provide a letter to Gary Eve and Owen Robertson stating the reasons for their dismissal, and it has to be a just cause. The community of Mesachie Lake is being treated poorly on this issue and that’s not okay.”
The CVRD announced in January that the Mesachie Lake fire department would be put on an “operational pause” as of Jan. 24 to allow an independent consultant to conduct a third-party review of the department.
The district also announced that Eve and Robertson, long-time members of the fire department, were being terminated at the same time, but provided no explanation for the firings.
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After a public outcry, the fire department resumed operations on Feb. 2 under the temporary leadership of Kevin Smith who the CVRD said served as chief a number of years ago.
CVRD chairman Jon Lefebure and the district have not given any reasons for the sudden termination for Eve and Robertson, stating the issue is a personnel matter that can’t be discussed in public.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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