In the places I visited, there is no volunteer fire service.

In my country, in the town where I was mayor, we had a volunteer fire service consisting of men and women who give up their free time to protect others from fire.

This is a human, economic and ecological balance-sheet that might have been even more serious had it not been for the bravery and the efficiency of the fire-fighters, many of whom are volunteers, for the assistance given by the Red Cross to the communities affected, for the solidarity that European States have shown one another, not forgetting the substantial cooperation of third countries.

In the Alpine regions, for example, the institution of voluntary fire brigades is taken for granted.

I represent a rural constituency in Nova Scotia, where, for instance, most firefighters do not receive honoraria, and yet this tax-free allowance is available to those volunteer firefighters or emergency service volunteers who receive some form of honoraria, and it benefits those individuals.

In each of the congregations, members live out their faith as volunteer cancer patient drivers, shut-in and retirement home visitors, Meals on Wheels drivers, caring quilters groups, afterschool children's program leaders, school council representatives, volunteer firefighters, leaders of events that assist children with autism, friendship visits with lonely seniors still in their own homes, volunteer workers with victims' services, leaders of cancer fundraising events, coaches for hockey and soccer teams, volunteers with Communities in Bloom and take on keeping a stretch of public road clean and litter-free.