CHRIS LOWREY
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC Aug. 15, 2018
Non-ratepayers who are involved in car accidents on Hwy. 148 in the Municipality of Pontiac will now receive a bill in the mail to cover the costs associated with the response from the fire department after the passage of a new bylaw.
According to Municipality of Pontiac Director General Benedikt Kuhn, the main impetus for the new bylaw was the fact that a major provincial road runs through the municipality and several accidents take place on the road every year.
Kuhn said the municipality’s fire department responds to about 150 calls per year. Around half of those calls are accidents on Hwy. 148.
“Hwy. 148 creates a lot of work for our fire department,” Kuhn said.

He also said that the province is reviewing a program that compensates municipalities when the fire department brings the jaws of life to an accident. Kuhn estimates that the municipality receives around $25,000 per year from the program.
“It seems [the province’s] criteria weren’t quite clear or well understood and they, in their opinion, maybe overpaid,” Kuhn said. “So on paper, we might have to reimburse a good portion of that money.”
To make matters worse, the municipality isn’t sure how much its provincial compensation will change.
“Instead of getting $20,000 or $30,000 per year for the use of the jaws of life, we might only be getting $10,000 or $15,000,” Kuhn said.
He also said it costs the municipality about $30,000 per year to respond to calls on Hwy. 148.
As a result of the changes, the municipality is looking at additional revenue streams to offset the costs associated with reimbursing the province without increasing costs for ratepayers.
To compound matters, the fire department is only responsible for extricating the victims of an accident. But oftentimes they have to stay and direct traffic or help out fellow emergency services personnel in other ways.
“We often end up staying hours after the fact until the MTQ can mobilize enough manpower to take care of the traffic or the detour,” Kuhn said. “While our firemen are there, we’re paying them.”
For each accident on Hwy. 148, the municipality has to pay the fire department $400 per hour for a minimum of three hours – even if the firefighters are there for only 30 minutes – as well as an administration fee equal to 15 per cent of the total hourly rate.
Kuhn said that although drivers from other jurisdictions might be frustrated by the new policy, it’s necessary to keep costs down in the municipality. On top of that, he said insurance companies will cover the costs.
“Most often, when people get a letter from the municipality saying ‘You had an accident on this date and you owe us this amount,’ they pass that on to their insurance who pays the municipality.”