IQALUIT - Nunavut's former fire marshal boarded a plane to Ottawa on May 13 after being fired for raising safety concerns about the Baffin Correctional Centre and other buildings in Iqaluit, he says.

Nunavut's former fire marshal Tony Noakes stands with his carry-on bag at the Iqaluit airport on May 13. Noakes was boarding a flight to Ottawa after being fired on May 11. - Kassina Ryder/NNSL photo

Tony Noakes said many buildings in Iqaluit violate fire safety codes, including the airport where he spoke to Nunavut News/North before leaving the territory.

"Even this airport here has issues with it," he said, pointing to the crowd of passengers lining up to go through security.

"If you look over there, all those people getting into the security lineup, they're going to put 200 people in that area back there that's only able to hold 100, 110, 120."

Noakes said he has been informing the government's senior management officials about his concerns for months.

"I heard about them back in November. I think since January it's been off and on with senior management about various facilities; BCC is only one," he said.

Noakes said nothing was ever done to address his concerns.

"I did some investigating into the Baffin Correctional Centre, the issues that were going on there," he said. "I tried bringing these issues up to the senior management, nothing was done."

He said BCC was in violation of many safety codes.

"Some of the issues we had seen were problems with the sprinkler heads being missing broken, corroded," he said. "There are issues with plywood being used on the walls for wall covering."

Noakes said the walls of the prison should be constructed out of Gyprock and not plywood to improve fire safety.

"If it's just plywood and there's no fire protection coating applied, if you go to exit the building the flames will spread faster than you can exit," he said.

Noakes said he was fired on May 11 after filing a complaint with the RCMP regarding the unsafe conditions at BCC.

"I went to the RCMP saying, well, I'm trying to do this for the government. I'm a law enforcement officer for the Fire Prevention Act; they're hindering me in my efforts to fix the problems," he said.

His complaint was filed on May 7.

"That was on a Friday and I come in on a Monday, next thing I know I get a letter in my hands, delivered, saying 'you're fired,'" he said.

Noakes' job was terminated on the final day of his probationary period, which he said prevented him from collecting damages.

"It was one year to the day," he said. "If I would have been a full-time indeterminate (employee), they would have had to pay me damages."

Noakes' immediate supervisor, director of protection services Ed Zebedee, said he could not comment about why Noakes was fired.

"It’s a personnel matter and we don’t comment on personnel matters," he said.

RCMP Supt. Steve McVarnock said he received Noakes' complaint on May 10 and it is currently being reviewed.

"My understanding is it may involve several buildings, or more than one building, but BCC supposedly being one of them," he said. "I have not personally reviewed that documentation and that's being reviewed by an investigator right now just in terms of assessing what's in there and what, if anything, we have to do from a police perspective."

Noakes said he believes he was fired for whistleblowing.

"I'm being hindered every which way I go to do my job and when you speak up about something, that's when they cut you loose," he said.