It was the firefighters’ union that went to social media to tell residents what City Hall would not. They informed the public that in the last few days, St. Vital Station’s Engine 102 and Ladder 16 were out of service. At the start of that shift, the Winnipeg Fire Department was already short 34 positions. To keep 7 trucks on the road, 26 firefighters worked overtime. Even then, 6 positions were left uncovered, forcing 2 frontline units offline. That is not a political talking point. That is math. And it tells us that the people running this city have failed at the one thing government is supposed to do: Protect its residents.

For decades, Winnipeg has relied on a broken formula: Chronic understaffing covered up by paying overtime. The overtime paid to those 34 firefighters on that single

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