Some members of 91原创 City council and Mayor Val van den Broek clashed over her signing a that asks the province to expand the range of medical emergencies that firefighters handle, in order to address paramedic shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid crisis.

Van den Broek signed the March 10 joint letter with the mayors of Delta, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Belcarra, Pitt Meadows, Burnaby, Anmore, White Rock, and North Vancouver.

At the Monday, March 8, meeting, Councillor Paul Albrecht raised the issue, saying he was surprised to see the mayor had signed the letter without consulting with the rest of council, because it appeared to represent a change of position by 91原创 City, which has lobbied for more paramedics.

Albrecht said increasing the types of medical emergencies 91原创 City firefighters handle amounts to 鈥渄ownloading鈥� costs by having fire crews, who are funded by the City, perform work handled by paramedics, who are funded by the province.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not fair to our taxpayers and our tax rates,鈥� Albrecht said.

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Coun. Gail Martin said the letter had been 鈥渁rbitrarily signed鈥� by the mayor without council input.

Van den Broek said she viewed signing the letter as showing support for Delta in 鈥済etting a conversation started鈥� with the province about the need for more paramedics, and it worked.

鈥淭he province is finally talking to us [about the paramedic shortage],鈥� van den Broek said.

鈥淚 think it was a good thing.鈥�

Coun. Rudy Storteboom was concerned the letter may have opened the door to allow the province to download even more.

鈥淭he fire service was never intended to be a medical emergency service,鈥� Storteboom warned.

Coun. Teri James told the mayor 鈥渁 decision of this significance should have been run by your council.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 just curious why you arbitrarily signed that letter without consultation, which essentially changed the trajectory of what we鈥檝e been fighting for since 2014,鈥� James commented.

The mayor disagreed that it represented a change and went on to say that James and other members of council did not bring their concerns directly to her.

鈥淐alling me out like this in front of [the] public is not acceptable,鈥� the mayor complained.

鈥淎ny one of you could have contacted me.鈥�

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At Coun. Nathan Pachal鈥檚 suggestion, council voted to have staff prepare a discussion paper on the issue.

In response to a Pachal question, 91原创 City CAO Francis Cheung said 鈥�75 to 80 per cent鈥� of 91原创 City fire department calls in an average year have been for medical assistance, though that has dropped during the pandemic.

鈥淲e are struggling to actually be able to go to all those medical calls,鈥� Cheung remarked, adding there needs to be a 鈥渃ost recovery model鈥� for the city.