CFB Gagetown bracing for federal cuts

The region’s largest military base is bracing for cuts.

Cuts made by the federal government will reduce the number of civilian employees at CFB Gagetown and could also mean the privatization of fire protection services at the base, a move that is sounding alarm bells.

Morris Shannon is the president of the Union of National Defence Employees at the base, which represents about 800 workers at CFB Gagetown. Shannon says Ottawa is already looking for private companies to manage fire inspection services and firefighting could be next.

“We're the last ones to hear and usually when we do hear something, it's usually well in the works before we hear it,” says Shannon. “So the fire service would not surprise me either."

As Ottawa considers the future of firefighting services at Gagetown and other bases, the town of Oromocto is pondering the impact, as the relationship between the town and base is a close one.

“We work together on water and sewage and on the fire side,” says Dick Isabelle, a spokesperson for the town of Oromocto. “We do have mutual aid agreements where we help each other with our services, so when we do hear that changes may be on the horizon, we certainly would like to be part of that dialogue because it's important business for us."

The town says if a decision is made to privatize fire protection on the base, they would be interested in providing that service. In the meantime, the concern about job loss on the base prevails.

"Right now, the fear among everybody is, kind of, am I going to be the next one to receive a letter?" says Shannon.

Ottawa has previously said it is evaluating situations across the country and no decisions have been made.

CTV News attempted to contact the public affairs office in Gagetown today, but calls were not returned.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell