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The following story was written by freelance writer Deborah Reid:

Niagara College alumna Monique Belair (Law and Security Administration, 1985) often volunteers to speak to children at the local library. On one occasion, a young girl came in late, telling Monique candidly her father thought the talk was a waste of time because women couldn’t be firefighters. She told her dad the speaker was the deputy fire chief for the city of Oakville. He didn’t believe it and looked her up on LinkedIn. The length of Belair’s career astonished him, and something happened. He drove his daughter to the talk. 

“I want young women to know firefighting is a possibility for them,” said Belair. “I’ve never been interviewed for a position by a woman because there are only men who are senior to me.” And you can see she’s doing everything in her power to make it different for the next generation.

Seeing photos of Belair at the Canadian Forces Fire Academy, behind the wheel of a truck- beaming- is to know a young woman who has found her calling. She was one of five female firefighters in the Canadian military – a direct entry at 19 years of age. Most applicants had already served years in military trades.

Some men let her know she was not welcome. And there were men like Ron (Tiny) Beaushesne, one of her instructors, who had her back. She knew she belonged. “You can’t let one or two people take from you what you earned,” said Belair. “If you focus on the negativity, it belittles all the good things that happened.”

Time has not faded her spirit for work and getting to the top was a goal from the start. Being the face of change meant something. What sets her career apart is years of diverse experience- in fire suppression, communications, training and education, investigation and prevention. There were seven years in the provincial fire marshal office and she even did a stint as a volunteer firefighter to understand the role better. In laying a solid foundation, she empowered herself first.

Service to the community is Belair’s top priority. One of her most important projects came to life while working in Oakville. Scroll through the Camp Molly website to see images of young women in firefighter uniforms having a real-life, practical learning experience. It’s empowering.

When asked why there are no boys at the camp, Belair’s response is full of chutzpah and fun. “The first time a 16-year-old boy walks up to me and says ‘I didn’t know men could be firefighters, I thought it was a woman’s job,’ that’s when I’ll include them,” she said. But you can bet there are men on the Camp Molly board. There is nothing about her character that is exclusionary.

And there’s a real commitment to carry the message that fire suppression is just one career. Opportunities abound for fire investigators, public educators and work in dispatch to name a few.

A gifted child, she graduated from high school at 16. That’s when she started to wonder what she could be and began casting around for a career. The young women who participate in Camp Molly are the same age. The trajectory and length of Belair’s career serve as a fine example.

In June 2021, Belair became the Director of Emergency Services and Fire Chief for the City of Belleville, making her the City’s first female Fire Chief. That’s no surprise.