Dear Gabriolans, for those of you who could not attend last night’s candidate meeting (April 22, 2026), my answers to the questions asked are listed down below.
QUESTION 1: The Board consistently struggles over which issues fall under Governance versus Operations. What specific steps would you take to clarify and unify the Board’s position?
I would also add that staff seems to struggle between governance and operations. This is not only the result of an unclear & concise bylaw (BYLAW 98), but also unclear policies and procedures that demonstrate what the role of the District/Trustees are, what the role of the Fire Department entails, and the lack of definition of the role of the Fire Chiefs and staff. One thing that the ratepayers should know is that Improvement Districts are not mentioned in the relatively new Fire Services Act. I am unsure where, when, and what Gabriola’s Fire Department is responsible for and where, when, and what the RDN is responsible for in terms of providing fire protection & services throughout the island.
Here is how I understand the responsibilities of the Fire Department and District:
| Fire Department’s Operation | District’s Governance |
| Fire Suppression & Prevention | Administration & Oversight |
| Emergency Response | Governance & Policy |
| Specialized Rescue | Strategic Planning |
| Public Safety & Education | Community Representation |
| Operational Management | Financial Management |
| Legal & Property Authority |
The biggest struggles seem to arise, this past year, when the Fire Chief requests equipment, money for operations/training, contracts, and issues without a detailed explanation, presentation, or information. Trustees Bussler, Mercier and Chorneyko seem to be against the more laissez-faire approach that has historically existed between the Chief and the previous Trustees. I think Trustees Bussler, Mercier and Chorneyko are doing their statutory duties in this situation by reasonably asking for explanations and details to the Chief’s requests.
I believe WorkBC accurately details what the role of the Fire Chief should be.
In short, I think the line between governance and operations will always require negotiation, but our current state of ambiguity demonstrates the need for better direction and for staff and Trustees to work together.
QUESTION 2: Are you in favour of hiring a third fire chief? And if so, how do you justify hiring more full-time staff, or increasing staff in general, while call volume is decreasing?
I am openly against the hiring of a third chief. It makes no sense. The assistant-assistant Chief position, I think, is an attempt to hire another non-union employee and we would be the only Gulf Island with three Chiefs to my knowledge. I believe the purchasing of the First Due firefighter program is the first step forward to alleviating some of the workload for the current Chiefs.
I think there are larger issues here. For example, where is the overtime policy to explain how the Chiefs or Corporate Officer accumulate overtime? How much overtime have the Chiefs incurred and why?
QUESTION 3: My question is about replacement of the fire trucks. Last year, I was concerned about how we could replace them, so I looked for tools and regs about rules and how you qualify for insurance, and the standard is for twenty years. Does anybody know, on the Board, what the extension is for … typically for a rural fire department? Anybody? Raise your hands? Nope? Okay. The extension is, you could go up to 30 years given you meet some provisions for maintenance, and you can demonstrate that the truck’s truly viable. So, I’m very concerned that we buy vehicles at 16 years, this year, when we didn’t need to. [followed by a request for comment]
This is an excellent question and needs to be investigated further. At the end of the day, there needs to be procurement policies in place and presentations that meet the expectations of the ratepayers that proper research has been conducted. There needs to be, of course, public and staff consultation. There needs to be proper reporting and an explanation as to the direction of the Fire Department expenditures. This, unfortunately, is still not the case and something I would like to change.
QUESTION 4: Since this is a body that is largely a governance body, one of the concerns I have as a ratepayer and a person who has attended these meetings is that, at times, I feel that the meetings are not run as well as they could be. And my concern is that I have the impression that a number of times I was disappointed in the quality of the meeting and the way it was run. I don’t think that we have to have six hour meetings. I want to ask you each: Do you have a good grounding and an understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order and do you feel confident that if you were elected Chair that you could run effective meetings?
I would never want to be the Chair; it is a tremendously difficult role. I suggest the following improvements to remedy that difficulty. First, the Chair at Gabriola’s Improvement District seems to have special powers outside of the meeting which need to be removed. The Chair is no different than any Trustee with one important distinction, they should perform the role of an objective supervisor in the District’s general meeting. I have said repeatedly I intend to change how the District conducts general, committee, and in-camera meetings and align them with best practices and good governance as outlined by the Ombudsperson and other organizations. I believe Trustee Mercier was an excellent Chair, and if elected, would nominate him.
QUESTION 5: Matt, this is a question to you, but others can feel free to say something at the end. You seem to have aligned yourself with the D.O.W. candidates from last year’s election. During that election, there were proponents of lowering the budget, yet once elected, they have dramatically increased it by thousands of dollars. And you say that third party expenses and legal experts’ expenses are out of control. Where is the discrepancy between what they campaigned for and what they allowed to happen, and what do you propose to do to remedy it?
I mentioned the D.O.W candidates only in terms of referencing the sign that was posted in town that said “SUPPORT D.O.W.” Nothing more. I have my own perspective on how budgets are developed and the Long-Range Plan that was formed during my tenure as the Corporate Officer. I would like all levies to be extremely detailed and debated in public with consultation from the public and staff.
As for the Levy increases this coming year, some of it will be outside of my control as the Firefighters’ Union will probably have financial demands – why the union was formed was probably the result of previous Board of Trustees and Management decisions or lack thereof.
How will I stop the Levy from massively increasing this year?
No more Third-Party Contractors on issues like FOIs, and other unnecessary issues, like policies. No more excessive hiring of lawyers on issues like governance and other unnecessary issues. There are numerous free resources out there. All the money made by deployment, leases, sub-contracting, etc. should be used to balance the budget or build savings towards future projects or equipment. I helped prepare all the financial information for the Long-Range Plan and I know what we can cut without impacting the great fire services we currently receive.
QUESTION 6: Recently, I attended a seminar presented by Steve Earle about climate change and just how our climate is changing; it’s getting hotter and hotter in the summers, less and less water, some people’s wells are running dry. I just wanted the candidates’ thoughts on maybe looking forward, what are we going to do for water for fighting fires and are there other things that we can do to mitigate fire hazards in the summertime.
Thank you for this question! My personal research pertains to climate change with respect to Economics and I greatly appreciate its importance. The Long-Range Plan should be primarily about this issue, and yet, it is currently a shopping list with very little detail. I believe we need to get local and provincial experts, as well as the community, to help craft a Long-Range Plan anchored to helping islanders prepare for climate change catastrophes. We will need statutory-right of way agreements (which already exist) and mutual aid bylaws publicly posted so that present and future Gabriolans know where there is water and who can help in case of emergencies.
There is a lot of misinformation out there about Mallett Creek and other statutory-right-of way agreements and mutual aid agreements. Please see Trustee Mercier’s website for more information. It is crucial to know that ratepayers own 10% of the water of Mallett Creek shared with other Gabriolan residents.
We need Statutory Rights-Of-Way (see pages 34ff of improvement_district_manual ), Mutual Aid Agreements (see page 20-1 of improvement_district_manual), and Joint-Works Agreements bylaws, to protect the ratepayers’ money and investments.
QUESTION 7: My understanding of one of the core responsibilities of governance boards is the supervision and direction of the fire chief. So, I would like to hear from people who are currently on the board as to what processes and protocols are in place to ensure that our fire chief gets appropriate supervision? And I would like to hear from people who are applying to be on the board as to what they think that should be, and what they would be talking about if they were in a position of being on the board, to ensure that our fire chief gets the supervision that he’s entitled to.
There needs to be clear and concise job descriptions; the Board needs policies and procedures. There are also many normal and mandatory human resources policies missing and training needed.
I think a fundamental question is why did the firefighters decide to unionize? For myself, this is a signal to tell the public they no longer have confidence with the previous Board of Trustees that include Diana Moher and Erik Johnson and the Fire Chiefs. What has the Board of Trustees and Chiefs done to repair the relationship? The firefighters unionizing is not a confidential matter – it will deeply affect you, the ratepayers, as wages and benefits will dramatically increase.
Most Fire Chiefs now need a master’s degree in administration. While that may be out of reach at this point – I do believe the Fire Chiefs need more education and certification to meet the criteria to be proper Chiefs; those who can prepare presentations, participate in community engagement, write reports, have knowledge of human resources, create budgets, etc.
I think the Board needs to apply more supervision as I do not understand why the Fire Chiefs are sub-contracting the Fire Department, equipment, and personnel to private businesses. Why has the public not seen these contracts with SoS, Harmac and any others if there are any. This, in my opinion, is a misuse of public goods and services. This comes across as turning the Fire Department into a private business; it far exceeds what is allowed under Bylaw 98, but also the definition of what a Fire Protection Improvement District is. An Improvement District, for Fire Protection, is to only provide fire protection & services for Gabriola Island. These contracts seem to only make private businesses money, not help balance the budget or help the ratepayers in any capacity.
This is not to say I am against helping British Columbia with wildfires, but I also do not think either Fire Chief should be leaving the island to fight wildfires. They are the Commander and Chiefs here.
In a nutshell, there are very serious interconnected concerns with the current Fire Chief, Erik Johnson and Diana Moher. Under their supervision, the Fire Department has unionized, professional fees have skyrocketed, duty officers’ wages have escalated without any motions or minutes, current Trustees Bussler, Mercier, and Chorneyko have publicly stated they do not get regular access to previous Board minutes, motions, and other key resources, resulting in many, many other issues, and the levy continues to dramatically increase.
You, the ratepayer, deserve better and our amazing dedicated volunteer firefighters deserve better!
It’s time for a change in leadership to help both Fire Chiefs create a fire community!
Please Gabriola, vote for Dimitri Tzotzos, John Rankin, Liz Wallinger & me, Matt Dow!