Essex County Council unanimously agrees with Tecumseh's mayor and the Association of Municipalities that possible changes to the Ambulance Act won't improve patient care or 911 response times.
The province is looking to test the use of firefighters certified as paramedics or fire-medics to respond to calls.
Mayor Gary McNamara says the proposed legislation is concerning and ambiguous on who pays for what, and he believes it's just a matter of time before we see paramedics on fire trucks.
"The fear is that it's just a stepping stone right now, and the reality will be that it's just like the flood gates are going to open up, and our biggest fear is another download to the municipalities," says McNamara.
The province says if the pilot projects go ahead, they will not occur until 2018 at the earliest, and not at all if there are no willing municipalities that agree to host them.
McNamara says the province should improve dispatch services to improve response times if it wants to improve anything, and believes that fire-medics will be a huge issue leading to next year's provincial election.
McNamara says provincial funding formulas will need to change because currently municipalities and the province split the cost of land ambulance, but towns and cities pay 100% for fire services.
"Now you're going to be asking us to pay for specialized vehicles, special training, and all of that comes at the expense of the municipality," he says.
McNamara says there are too many unanswered questions and variables like added cost for new equipment and training.
"Do you want to send a fully equipped engine to a medical call? It doesn't make any sense. A million dollar vehicle going out and to me, it's the [fire] association just trying to beef up their numbers," says the mayor.