The Canadian Press(CP)
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FREDERICTON, New Brunswick — An arbitrator has ordered that a New Brunswick paramedic who was dismissed after questioning the finances of his agency receive back wages.
Roger Ross has won the arbitration filed by CUPE after the Nashwaak Keswick Ambulance Service Inc. dismissed him from his duties last year.
The service’s board fired him after he began to publicly question its handling of finances.
Ross received word early in April that a Moncton arbitrator had decided his grievance was justified.
The arbitrator has ordered the board to pay Ross $4,936.50 in back wages, cost of travel time and other expenses.
Early in January, the province’s Health Department revoked the licence of the Nashwaak-Keswick Ambulance Service Inc.
Health Minister Mike Murphy’s department contracted the service to Medavie-Blue Cross after an audit conducted by the department provided information that led the department to believe the licence should be revoked.
Information gathering during the course of the investigation is now in the hands of Attorney-General T.J. Burke’s office and has been forwarded to the RCMP for investigation.
The police force is digging into the ongoing investigation and has talked to Ross and other parties connected to the ambulance service.