People risk their lives battling forest fires, but Ontario’s government is treating them unfairly. That’s the message Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois and others brought to a news conference Wednesday at Queen’s Park. Wildland firefighters are not getting the “supports and respect” they deserve, said Vaugeois, who is the New Democrat critic for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). In particular, firefighter Noah Freedman said, recent legislation regarding WSIB coverage for workplace-related cancer “came with a glaring condition” requiring wildland firefighters to serve for 30 years before they could qualify. The law requires 15 years of service, but each annual fire season counts as only half a year, so a person battling forest blazes does not qualify until 30 fire seasons. Freedman, vice-president of OPSEU Local 703, said he and his colleagues are “risking our lives not only in the moment but forever” when they fight fires, because of airborne carcinogens.