Article content‘Crisis of confidence’Article contentThe minister pointed to gaps in funding oversight, governance structure and a lack of communication with its members.Article content“The Nova Scotia Firefighters School cannot safely and effectively operate as it is,” Masland said. “There is a crisis of confidence in its leadership and governance, and there has been an incomprehensible lack of accountability following Mr. Blackie’s preventable death.”Article contentThe value-for-money audit, commissioned in June to help ensure the safety of students and staff at the school, included three targeted surveys to garner first-hand perspectives from across the province’s fire services. Article contentThe audit, completed by consultant 21FSP Advisory at a cost of $300,000, surveyed 680 firefighters from across the province about training experiences, canvassed 52 fire department leaders and conducted a general board governance survey of eight board of directors members.Article contentArticle content“The firefighting community was given the opportunity to speak and they spoke loud and clear,” Masland said.Article content Jessica Gillis answers questions from reporters at One Government Place in Halifax on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Gillis’s brother, Skyler Blackie, was killed during a training exercise at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley in 2019. Photo by Ryan Taplin /The Chronicle HeraldArticle content“Seventy-five per cent felt negatively toward the school, especially in relation to safety culture, instructor credibility and its outdated infrastructure.”Article contentShe said the leadership survey revealed a system under stress, in desperate need of modernization and regionalization. Article content“Almost all of the remaining directors of the general board participated in the surveys and their feedback was scathing,” Masland said.Article content“They said the school was too large, ineffective, centralized all of the decision making with the executive director and that it had a lack of accountability and transparency.”Article contentMasland said government has listened.Article content“We are taking immediate action in ending our relationship with the school,” the minister said.Article contentArticle contentThe province had already discontinued annual operating grants to the school.Article content“Obviously, Nova Scotia still needs firefighter training,” Masland said.Article contentShe said a steering committee will be established in the coming weeks to oversee an interim training plan and to guide the work on a long-term, comprehensive training model for firefighters.Article contentThe goal is to have the interim training available by fall. The broader fire services governance review is a second, separate review being led by the Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia and focusing on governance, operations, communications, funding and more. Article contentFamily’s responseArticle content“When we lost Skyler in the line of duty, we made a promise to speak up; not just for him, but for every firefighter who deserves to come home safe,” the Blackie family said in a statement.Article content The Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley on Tuesday. Photo by Tim Krochak /The Chronicle HeraldArticle content“The findings of this audit are painful to read, but they reflect what we have known all along: the Nova Scotia Firefighters School is not safe.
Nova Scotia announces complete break from firefighters school held responsible for 2019 death
