Date: August 2, 2016
TO: All Members of Local 867
From: Alex Forrest, UFFW President
RE: WFD Firefighter Exchange Program

August 26, 2016

We are happy to announce that with the support of Chief John Lane, the WFD is revisiting the concept of establishing an exchange program for our members with firefighters from around the world.

Recently, Firefighter-Paramedic Alex Babinsky and his family travelled to the island province of Tasmania where he will spend the next year working as a full-time professional firefighter with the United Firefighters Union of Australia.

In exchange, this past Tuesday, Firefighter Roger Brown and his wife Tanya arrived in Winnipeg to begin his year embedded within our department working out of #1 station on 1 shift.

In collaboration with Chief Lane and his administration, we are collaborating to create a set of policies and procedures to guide us through future exchanges. Due to the complexity of these exchanges, it is anticipated that we will only be able to offer a limited number of Firefighter exchanges per year.

Pictured below is Tasmanian Firefighter Roger Brown and his spouse Tanya being greeted at the Wpg airport by UFFW Exec Rob Campbell & Chief John Lane with Winnipeg winter survival tools.