Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the training programs that have been offered by Arctic College for Renewable Resources officers have been very successful and many of the northern residents and aboriginal residents have been trained, so I will instruct the Minister Responsible for Renewable Resources work with the Hamlet of Gjoa Haven to see if a person can be identified to take the necessary training. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. The request is urgent. Would the Premier instruct the Minister Responsible for Renewable Resources to do this as soon as possible, perhaps within three months? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I will inform the Minister responsible for Renewable Resources that the honourable Member is stressing that this is of an urgent nature and that, as soon as possible, we should move toward identifying a person and try to apply that individual to a training program. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Ms. Mike.

Qujannamiik, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister Responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board. Like my honourable colleague from Keewatin Central, I am very concerned about the administrative increase and the addition of new PYs to the existing Workers' Compensation Board empire which the Minister just announced. The Minister has spoken about the new enhanced Safety Audit Program which emphasizes compliance. What will these new PYs do if they find unsafe working conditions, what authority will they have?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, an increase in the W.C.B. budget and staff is forecast for the coming year but I would, respectfully, disagree with the Member's assertion that there is an empire. In fact, Mr. Speaker, over the last five or six years, the case load of the W.C.B. has grown substantially and the number of staff has remained static. It is not a question of the board's staff having grown uncontrollably in the past number of years.

To answer the Member's question, Mr. Speaker, the Safety Enhancement Program is not an enforcement tool but it is designed to be a method of building a partnership between the worker, the employer and the W.C.B. If there are deficiencies in the safety program in a particular workplace, then the program of the W.C.B. is designed to help an employer improve his safety program through courses in safety and education. This year, so far, 48 employers have received that assistance and there is also a program in high schools to encourage young people to be aware of safety before they enter the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, the W.C.B. staff, and I must emphasize that they will be working in close harmony with the Department of Safety and Public Services, will help employers to make their workplaces more safe. That should lead to reduced accidents, which should lead to reduced claims costs, which should lead to reduced rates, we hope. Thank you.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind visitors to the Legislative Assembly that the rules require that anyone who wants to take photographs in the Legislative Assembly seek permission from the Speaker's office. Item 5, Oral Questions. Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary to the same Minister. During the May 13 public hearings which the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions held on W.C.B., the representative from the Federation of Labour, Mr. Jim Evoy, made the following comments, "please look to British Columbia to the Penalty Assessment Program they have there. That just takes an enforcement arm of the inspectorate and puts it with the W.C.B." "It simply works like that. The penalty assessment officer or safety officer sees an infraction and he immediately writes it up and writes up a penalty assessment.

Instead of a fine in court, it is an additional assessment against the employer, all the names of the employers are published, they do have the right to appeal, it works and it is quick." Can the Minister indicate to the House whether the extra dollars and additional PYs that the Workers' Compensation Board is trying to build into its budget, are actually going to be used to experiment with Mr. Evoy's pet project?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, no they will not. Mr. Speaker, the penalty assessment and corresponding merit rebate programs, which are allowed in the present Workers' Compensation Act, which I as Minister have encouraged the board to implement, and which have been recommended by other reviews of the W.C.B., are unfortunately not yet in place. Today, I cannot tell the honourable Member that the penalty assessment scheme described before the A.B.C. Committee will be put in place for the coming year. I hope that situation will change, Mr. Speaker, but as of today such a scheme has not been approved by the Workers' Compensation Board. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recognizing that employer assessment rates are shooting up more quickly and higher than Dr. Bondar's spaceship and recognizing that there are already safety awareness and enforcement programs within the Department of Safety and Public Services, how can the Minister possibly support the concept of using board money to implement experimental programs when the details are fuzzy and the mandate is uncertain?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Safety and Public Services did once deliver a safety awareness and education program. Mr. Speaker, that program was funded by a grant from the Workers' Compensation Board. Two years ago, the Workers' Compensation Board in its wisdom decided no longer to provide those funds to the Department of Safety and Public Services to deliver that important safety education and awareness program. Mr. Speaker, if the responsibility were to be assigned to the Department of Safety and Public Services, it would at the moment not have budgeted nor have the funds to deliver that program alongside its other statutory obligations of inspection and enforcement. Mr. Speaker, the Member's question is a good one but I would have to say that if the responsibility was to be given now to the Department of Safety and Public Services, then this government and probably this Legislature would have to identify new money, which is not now in place, for the cost of delivering that program. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Final supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Clearly if this honourable Member is performing his job as the Minister, he will do something more than just stand around watching this take place. Both the standing committee's report and the report of the 1989 review committee recommended that the Minister should take a more direct role in the monitoring and management of the board. Will the Minister request the Chairperson of the W.C.B. to convene an emergency meeting of the board so that he can request the board to reject the concept of increasing PYs and administrative funding related to workplace audits?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, with the greatest of respect for the honourable Member, I have not just been standing around. I may not have accomplished a great deal but I have been working hard on W.C.B. issues, almost on a daily basis. The problems which I inherited, Mr. Speaker, were significant. I have not been standing around. Yes, I was involved with the previous government, Mr. Speaker, and so were others in this House. Mr. Speaker, ...

Order please, the Minister has the floor.

Mr. Speaker, to answer the Member's specific questions, I have not yet received the budget for the W.C.B. for the coming fiscal year. I have received some reports about what is in that budget and it includes significant cost cutting measures. It would be premature for me to request the Chair to call an emergency meeting to discuss a budget which I have not yet received or reviewed. However, Mr. Speaker, as soon as I get the budget, if I find that there are significant excesses in the budget, as the Member suggests, I will certainly not hesitate to do as she recommends. Thank you.