By Katherine Gibson (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: April 3, 2013
Russell Shellard is not your average senior citizen.
At 63-years-old, Shellard is used to living life at a normal pace – except for the days that he spends running into burning buildings to fight fires as a paid on-call firefighter (POC).
At least he used to.
A little over a year ago, the Chilliwack Fire Department (CFD) dismissed Shellard from his position as a POC, citing a mandatory retirement age.
“[The CFD] has what they call a mandatory retirement policy in place,” explains Shellard, “which says that firefighters must retire at the age of 60.”
All new recruits of the CFD now sign a legal document accepting this mandatory retirement age, but Shellard was never told about this procedure upon his hiring.
“The policy was never made known to me,” Shellard explains. “I never had to sign any legal documents.”
“In fact, I didn’t find out about the policy until the first year I started serving,” he continues.
One of the main concerns that the CFD has regarding older firefighters is directly health-related. However, the medical tests that POCs undergo are fairly minimal.
“Medical requirements for POCs are not that stringent,” says Shellard. “There could be all sorts of [POCs with] health and safety risks out there despite their age.”
The lack of these requirements has Shellard questioning the validity of the CFD’S argument that his age would put him in danger and hinder his ability to continue doing his job effectively.
“I have passed all of the medical and cognitive requirements to be a firefighter,” Shellard explains. “I feel that it is because of my age that my job was lost.”
Shellard’s case also opens up larger questions regarding age discrimination in the workplace. The BC government passed new laws in 2008 that amended human rights legislation in the province to protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of their age – something that Shellard views as important and worth fighting for.
“I feel like I’m carrying the torch for others that will come up after me,” Shellard says.
“There are lots of people in the CFD—POCs—that are approaching their 60th birthday and are looking with anxious eyes and hearts at [my] particular case,” he continues.
Shellard has taken his complaints to the Human Rights Tribunal, where he hopes the validity of his argument will be recognized.
“One of the biggest frustrations is to be told that you are too old,” says Shellard.
“I would like to make that choice for myself.”
