When Bruce Másales was diagnosed with bladder cancer in stage 4, he says that the news occurred without prior notice.
But as a volunteer for a long time, Halifax firefighter, Mareles said that at least he comforts himself believe that he would receive financial compensation.
However, Mareles said they told him that he does not qualify under the Board of Compensation of Provincial Workers or other municipal insurance coverage, which falls through a gap in both systems.
“I’m sitting there, I was surprised a bit,” Mareles said recently.
The doctors discovered cancer during unrelated surgery he had last summer, Mareles said.
It was diagnosed in August 2024 with bladder cancer in stage 4 metastatic, which means that it had spread to other organs. Mareles was originally told that he had approximately one year to live.
“I go, ‘Well, wait a minute, what happened to stage 1, 2, 3, and I omit that?’ … because I had no symptoms, “he said.
Mareles spent a 21 -year -old voluntary race at Station 16 in his native community of Eastern Passage, retiring in 2017.
He said he loved the paper. It was a hard work to be a voluntary firefighter and handle a daily job, but it was important to “give back to the community.”
The Workers’ Compensation Board has allegedly covered bladder cancer for firefighters since 1993, recognizing the increased risk of cancer related to being a firefighter.
“I never smoked in my life, I never did drugs in my life, I didn’t drink enough to say that I drank,” said Mareles. “I know people who did the three in excess, and are healthy as a horse.”
Mareles was originally applied to the Workers’ Compensation Board because it seemed to adjust to its criteria to serve at least 15 years to qualify for the coverage of the bladder-chancer. But his claim was rejected because the regional municipality of Halifax only began paying the Board in January 2021, after Mareles had left.
“Found … the [Firefighters’ Compensation Act] That said, the province would take care of its firefighters, “Mareles said.
“Well, they will only take care of them if the municipalities in which they are paying money.”
The province made it mandatory for municipalities to provide cancer coverage for volunteer firefighters in 2020. Before that, there was a mosaic throughout the province where some areas used the workers compensation board and others only private insurance with different levels of benefits.
Halifax used a private insurance policy for volunteers between 1996 and 2021. Municipal spokeswoman Laura White said the insurance had a $ 5,000 cancer benefit, but only asked the volunteers diagnosed while in “active duty.”
Mareles said that he wonders how many other Halifax volunteers could be trapped in this gap if they retired before 2021 because cancer generally takes years to appear.
When he joined in 1996, Mareles said there were around 1,200 volunteers throughout the municipality working together with career firefighters, as in station 16. That has fallen over the years so far about 560 active volunteers in Halifax and 550 members of his career.
“HRM Fire is the largest fire department in New Scotland, right? And the ball dropped without protecting their volunteers,” said Mareles.
“But I think the province dropped the ball because here the government is where the government is … Someone must have noticed at some point, ‘God, we should get money from these 1,200 volunteers. You know, the city should have been paying [WCB]”
Eight claims denied in recent years
Steve Macdonald, spokesman for the Workers’ Compensation Board in Nueva Scotia, said the Board received 60 compensation claims related to voluntary firefighters throughout the province between 2020 and 2024.
The Board did not provide benefits in eight of those cases. Macdonald said this could happen for several reasons and that “it is very possible that the coverage has been in force, but the claim may not have proceeded for another reason.”
Macdonald did not say where the statements came from privacy problems.
Any compensation would have made a real difference, said Mareles, because there are things that he would love to do “before going” that he cannot pay, such as visiting Gibson, BC, where they filmed the iconic television series Beachcombers. He would also like to improve the house to facilitate his wife’s things.
Mareles went through four rounds of chemotherapy the past fall. His doctors believe he has two years left to live with the support of immunotherapy treatment.
Although it was a relief to obtain the news that has a little more time than I originally thought, Mareles said he feels like “Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Yvil sitting waiting for falling.”
Mareles said it went to his MLA Barbara Adams, who investigated his case, but said there was nothing she could do.
Provincial spokesman Greg Hanna said that the New Scotland government is always looking for ways to better support firefighters and “the approach now is to ensure that all active firefighters are covered in the future.”
The Halifax Professional Fire Association represents the members of the race and not the volunteers, but President Brendan Meagher said that each firefighter who deals with cancer deserves support.
He said that “it does not feel like justice” that someone who has been exposed to smoke and toxic chemicals through their service is not covered because they were diagnosed after they left.
“You know, there is a responsibility in the city to make sure people are treated,” Meagher said.
Lawyer Beck Kent, the local councilor of Mareles, said he could not speak with her specific case, but that she is “always discouraging” when the systems do not work for the people who are designed to support.
When asked if he would explore a program funded by the city to help volunteer firefighters in this gap, Kent said it depends on the model. But she said she would consider “any good idea.”
CBC asked to speak with Halifax Cao Cathie O’Toole about this gap for volunteers, but she rejected the request.
