CBRM firefighters consider scrapping lie detector tests to boost recruitment

Some Cape Breton Regional Municipality councilors and fire department officials say requiring a lie detector test for potential firefighters is hurting recruitment.

They say the tests might not be relevant and should be eliminated.

The CBRM Fire and Emergency Services Committee unanimously agreed Thursday that staff would write on the issue before a future committee meeting.

Deputy Chief Chris March said the fire department is currently trying to fill up to eight vacancies and people are not applying for the position in numbers like they used to.

Advice. Steve Parsons asks how many test takers have failed a polygraph test in recent years.

“That’s a tough question to answer,” March said. “I don’t have the exact number, but… we can say it’s significant.”

“We are losing good people”

The department loses applicants who pass all written and physical exams but fail the polygraph test, he said.

“In the very beginning, when we started doing them, I was a strong advocate for these measures,” he said.

But he added that in recent years, “we are losing good people.”

March said more than 100 people took the test when he applied to become a firefighter 24 years ago. But he said the most recent recruiting efforts resulted in only 28 applications.

In 2022, CBRM’s then-deputy fire chief Gilbert MacIntyre said the applicant pool had been shrinking for years.

CBRM requires polygraph tests for police, fire and 911 call center jobs.

Advice. Steve Parsons says there is no reason for CBRM to wait to end this requirement. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

Canadian courts do not allow polygraph results to be admitted as evidence because they are considered unreliable and inaccurate.

The CBRM Fire and Emergency Services Committee was told that Halifax Regional Police had stopped requiring polygraphs for its recruits, and that most fire departments were abandoning the use of tests for eliminate unsuitable candidates.

“If we limit ourselves to the number of successful applicants because of something that is outdated or will soon be outdated, why are we waiting for someone to make that decision for us?” » asked the advisor. Parsons.

The committee was not told what type of questions are asked in a polygraph test, but Parsons suggested that candidates could be asked about things they may have done when they were young.

Fire Chief Mark Bettens says he agrees with the idea of ​​eliminating the polygraph test for recruits because all firefighters must undergo a criminal background check. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

“We can’t afford to make judgments about people and what they did when they were teenagers,” he said.

Advice. Darren O’Quinn said he wasn’t sure polygraph tests should be eliminated completely because firefighters sometimes enter people’s homes when they’re not there and the home may contain objects of value.

Chief Mark Bettens said he agrees with the idea of ​​eliminating polygraph tests because firefighters already require criminal background checks.

He also said he knew of a potential candidate who had gone through the interview process several times and ultimately passed the polygraph test.

“So we lost that candidate during those years,” Bettens said.

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