Email

Print

We asked Faber how they selected Gillett, who is not from within the ranks of the Fire Department:

Hon. Patrick Faber - Deputy Prime Minister
"I congratulate my colleague, Minister Castro, and I congratulate Mr. Colin Gillett, who I know to be very capable. Colin and I were classmates together at St. John's College, so, I have no doubt in his abilities, and I congratulate him on this appointment."

Reporter
"Sir, the criticism there is that he doesn't have any experience in firefighting, in the department itself."

Hon. Patrick Faber
"Well, the - I don't know that any of our former fire chiefs, when they get to a position like that, have that kind of credential, other than experience in the fire service itself. But, we have not been the kind of society that invests in the higher-level training of our officers in this respect. In fact, we just recently saw a police chief who is, for the first time, an attorney. So, what needs to happen, and I am pretty sure that people will agree with this, in the fire service, you need someone who can administrate, who can bring things together to see successful firefighting entity in this country."

Gillett holds a Master's Degree in Natural Resource Management.

A government release says he has already toured most of the National Fire Service's facilities countrywide, and, quote "He wants to ensure that firefighters are adequately equipped so that they can be proactive in their approach to keeping the country safe from fires and other explosive hazards." End quote.

We'll see if he can get the Department some desperately needed new trucks to replace the ones they currently have which are almost all many decades old.