By Bartley Kives
Winnipeg Free Press
Copyright 2007 Gale Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A soft-spoken paramedic who once carried stretchers in the mean streets of 1970s Belfast is the City of Winnipeg’s new fire-paramedic chief.
Jim Brennan, a 30-year veteran of Winnipeg’s emergency services, has been promoted to the top job in the Winnipeg Fire-Paramedic Service.
Brennan has been the city’s acting fire-paramedic chief since December, when former chief Wes Shoemaker moved to Vancouver to help the West Coast prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Brennan has worked in Winnipeg since 1977, when he moved here fromNorthern Ireland to work as an emergency medical technician.
At the time, Belfast was suffering through the worst of its political troubles and violence was commonplace. That led the Irish city todevelop the world’s first paramedic ambulance service, said Brennan,who was actively recruited by the City of Winnipeg.
“Winnipeg found me,” the new chief recalled on Monday, when the city made his ascension official. “It’s a very great honour for me to be promoted to this position.”
Brennan takes over the Winnipeg Fire-Paramedic Service at a time when the city is finally poised to end years of tension between its firefighters and paramedics.
Last week, the city reached a tentative amalgamation deal with unions representing both sets of workers, heading off a month-long series of labour hearings that would have cost all sides more than $1 million in legal fees.
Firefighters held a ratification vote on Monday, voting 99.8 per cent in favour of ratification, while paramedics are slated to vote onMay 11 and 12. The settlement also faces city council approval on May 16.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Brennan, who’s nonetheless confident the decade-old amalgamation headache will soon be over.
The heads of two of the unions involved in the deal welcomed Brennan’s appointment.
Travis Hildebrand, president of the Professional Paramedics Association of Winnipeg, called Brennan’s promotion as a “very positive move,” while United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest said Brennan has shown “tremendous leadership” over the past few months.
Brennan is the first paramedic to head Winnipeg’s emergency services. Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz described him as “a man of integrity” andintelligence who has the respect of his colleagues.