Council for the RM of Hanover will not allow its volunteer firefighters to also serve as councillors in the municipality.

Reeve Stan Toews says this is something council has been grappling with for awhile. And, since this is an election year, council decided to put a policy in place.

According to Toews, there have been requests from firefighters wanting to run for council. He notes they may do so, but they would have to take a leave of absence from the fire department during their campaign. Then, if elected, they would have to step down as a firefighter.

Toews says one reason for this is that as a firefighter in Hanover they get a T4, meaning they are actually employees of the municipality. He notes it is no different than if a grader operator also wanted to serve as a councillor.

Toews says another reason is that it could be viewed as a conflict of interest if a councillor, who is also a firefighter, makes political decisions on fire protection.

According to Toews, it is not a fair comparison to then suggest that someone who uses recreation facilities in Hanover should also not be allowed to serve on council.

As part of its policy, Hanover decided it will allow firefighters to serve as members of their Local Urban District committees. Toews says LUD members do not have direct input on fire departments.

The matter was discussed at Hanover's May 23rd meeting, before receiving unanimous approval this week. At the May meeting, it was suggested that it could be tricky for a fire chief to discipline a firefighter, who might actually be a councillor and therefore could technically be the chief's boss.

Toews says he can recall two incidents where a volunteer firefighter in Hanover ran for council. One of those incidents involved himself and both times the firefighter resigned their fire post after being elected.