Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Health told this House that the department had completed the review of community health facilities. This government has stated many times that it is committed to the principle of open

government. I assume the Minister is prepared to table this report to ensure that all citizens have access to this important information. Is the Minister prepared to table the review and recommendations of the community health facilities during the current session?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I am quite prepared to table the report, and the only caveat I would put on it is to see if we had made a commitment to make sure that Fort Simpson got that report first. So as soon as I check that, I am quite prepared to table it.

Ms. Mike.

Mr. Pollard.

No, I have not, Mr. Speaker.

Ms. Mike, supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary to the Minister of Finance. Would he consider issuing a directive which requires each deputy minister to ensure that all GNWT departments establish a formal plan for long-range organizational shifts necessary for the delivery of programs and services within Nunavut government?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, there has been some discussion with regard to the division of the NWT. It becomes a very complex procedure, and I think we realize that it is going to have to be done, You saw in the decentralization package that was put forward that there were allowances there for division. I think what needs to be done is for the commission to be formed and for there to be a work plan and list of tasks given to different Ministers or departments. That is what I am waiting for, Mr. Speaker, and I expect those instructions to come through the Premier when that work plan is done.

Oral questions, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 30, 1 asked a question to the Minister of Social Services with regard

That would be the Minister of Health, Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I will look into that question, but I am fairly positive that that question has been answered. I will seek and find the correspondence and make sure that it gets to the honourable Member.

Oral questions. Item 6, written questions. Mr. Nerysoo.

This is a written question to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

1) Would the Minister indicate if any legal opinions have been provided to municipal councils, or the extent of their authority to: a) approve or reject business licences; b) approve or reject permits for access to gravel or granular sources; c) approve or reject permits for land application?

2) Would the Minister provide me with any additional information that is provided by the department or the legal limitations or parameters that might be used in making decisions on these matters?

I have another written question to the Minister of Transportation.

1) Would the Minister indicate the reasons why "packers' are not being used for maintenance or reconstruction on the Dempster Highway?

2) Would the Minister provide the department's policy or guidelines for the use of such equipment?

3) Would the Minister indicate the differences of policy between the Yukon government and the Government of the NWT on the use of this type of equipment?

Thank you, Mr. Nerysoo. Written questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a written question for the Minister of Social Services. Would the Minister please provide to this House the following information regarding the board of management for alcohol and drug services:

a) When was the last date of the board of management meeting;

b) a list of current membership and their communities of residence;

c)all dates of expiry or appointments to the board of

management;

d) the next date when the board of management is scheduled to meet; and

e) the cost of board travel and meetings for each fiscal year it has operated?

Thank you. Written questions.

Item 7, returns to written questions. Returns to written questions.

Item 8, replies to Opening Address. Replies to Opening Address.

Item 9, petitions. Petitions. Item 10, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions, under the authority given to it by this House, has been reviewing matters related to the NWT Workers' Compensation Board. The standing committee has met on several occasions during the second session of the 12th Legislative Assembly, and public hearings were held in Yellowknife from May 11 to 13, 1992. Verbal, written and telephone submissions were received from organizations and individuals involved in the workers' compensation system.

While the primary focus of this comprehensive review has been to consider the structure, accountability and statutory authority of the board, the standing committee has also examined a range of policy and legislative matters pertaining to, or arising from, board operations.

A full report on the findings of the comprehensive review will be tabled during the current June, 1992, sifting of the Legislative Assembly. However, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions has taken the position that certain matters related to the Workers' Compensation Act require immediate attention. To this end, an interim report has been prepared with recommendations for action at the earliest possible opportunity.

Some general observations and recommendations. Workers in the NWT must know that there is an adequate system in place to provide them with financial assistance in the event that they become injured or ill as a result of their workplace duties. In the NWT, as in other Canadian jurisdictions, this system is administered by the Workers' Compensation Board. The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions is aware of the critical role that is played by the Workers' Compensation Board. It is also mindful of longstanding principles which have required the administration of Workers' Compensation claims to take place at an arm's length from government. However, the standing committee takes the position that responsibility for ensuring that the activities of the Workers' Compensation Board adequately meets the needs of all workers in the NWT is vested with the Legislative Assembly. Responsibilities for selecting and vetting appointments to the board and for ensuring that Workers' Compensation operates within a sound legislative framework are shared by the Executive Council and the Legislative Assembly.

In partial fulfilment of these responsibilities, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions, on December 16, 1991, tabled Committee Report 3-12(1) to

outline its work plan for the 1992-93 fiscal year. At that time, the standing committee stated its intention to carry out a comprehensive review of organizational and operational aspects of the Workers' Compensation Board. During the course of the review, the standing committee has had an opportunity to review a wealth of information available as documentation and through the receipt of public submissions.

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions has been concerned by much of the information it has received. Certain deficiencies in legislation or policy, and some administrative practices within the Workers' Compensation Board have drawn the particular attention of the standing committee Members. These will be identified, and in several cases recommendations for revisions will be forthcoming, with the comprehensive report to follow.

However, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was critically concerned by suggestions that the Workers' Compensation Board has fallen into a pattern where the interests of injured workers have been treated with insensitivity and disregard. This, if true, cannot be tolerated.

During public hearings the standing committee heard from a number of injured workers who had been, to greater and lesser extents, dissatisfied and frustrated in their dealings with the Workers' Compensation Board. Members of the committee were fully aware that this sampling of opinion may not be reflective of the experience of all claimants, perhaps not even the majority Yet the very apparent pain in which some of these workers have found themselves following workplace injury cannot be denied. There are aspects to the operation of the Workers' Compensation Board that are leading some injured workers to believe that they have not been treated in a sensitive and fair manner.

Problems Of WCB Insensitivity Not With Staff

As the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions looked further into this question of sensitivity, It became increasingly apparent that the problem does not lie with the staff who deliver front line service to the injured workers. In fact, the committee has found that quite the opposite is true.

Hear, hear!

Upon reviewing the testimony from public hearings and the documents provided, the standing committee found many examples of situations in which adjudicators, rehabilitation counsellors and other staff within the Workers' Compensation Board have treated claimants professionally and have been willing to go that extra mile on their behalf. Clearly, the problem lies not with the individuals who work within the board infrastructure but rather with the legislative policy and decision-making framework in which they must operate,

The standing committee became aware early on in the process that the Workers' Compensation Act has remained substantially unchanged since 1977. This is despite significant changes that have taken place within the Northwest Territories. New concepts of occupational injury and disease, new principles surrounding workplace health and safety, and an evolving form of ministerial government within our northern political system have all emerged since that time. The legislation has not kept pace and presently does not reflect any of those elements.

Clearly, where insensitivity exists with a workers' compensation system, this can be attributed to insensitive and outdated legislation. inadequate organizational structure, and improperly focused policies. This is not the result of the hard-working staff at the Workers' Compensation Board.

--- Applause

This situation cannot be allowed to continue. Members of the standing committee could empathize with the feelings of injured workers who believe they are being mistreated by board practices and with the staff who are in the position of having to work within an insensitive statutory and policy environment.

Several recommendations will be forthcoming in the standing committee's comprehensive report. However, the standing committee was aware that certain deficiencies within the Workers' Compensation Board require immediate attention and to that end has brought forward this interim report to deal with two matters of urgent concern.

Year's Maximum Insurable Remuneration

The first matter is the year's maximum insurable remuneration. In the opinion of the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions, the most pressing example of insensitivity to workers' needs had to do with the level established in the Workers' Compensation Act for the year's maximum insurable remuneration, or what we call YMIR. In the act, the YMIR is defined as follows:

"The year's maximum insurable remuneration means the maximum remuneration for any year for the purposes of determining the benefits payable in respect of an accident that occurs in the year and for determining the amount of the assessable payroll of an employer for the year and is equal to $40,000."

This definition is critical to the administration of the Workers' Compensation Act as it provides the basis for the board's system of remunerating injured workers and of assessing employers.

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned to learn that the level of the YMIR has not been adjusted since 1988. This has definite implications for injured workers who receive WCB pensions in the Northwest Territories. Persons who are earning more than $40,000 per annum at the time of their injury must immediately face a drastic lifestyle adjustment when their yearly remuneration drops to the YMIR level. Given that these individuals and their families have often faced personal spending limits on pre-injury salary levels, they are often confronted with mortgage, vehicle, and personal loan payments that suddenly become impossible to make. The cost of living in the Northwest Territories cannot often be borne by persons on disability pensions, and our communities see the loss of the skills and talents of hard-working people who are then forced to move to southern Canada.

Our first recommendation, Mr. Speaker: Clearly, immediate action is in order to raise the YMIR and provide relief to workers who are injured in the Northwest Territories. Accordingly, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions recommends that the Workers' Compensation on Act be amended prior to the conclusion of the June sitting of this House to increase the year's maximum insurable remuneration; and further, that the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board consider the concept of indexing the YMIR so that yearly increments can be made without the passage of amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act.

Legislative Review Process

Recommendation number two is related to legislative review process. Without a doubt, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive review of the Workers' Compensation Act. Although independent panels were established for the review

of the act, both in 1986 and 1989, the recommendations which came forth were not followed through as legislative initiatives. The review process which takes place must be a fully public exercise. Opportunities should be available for input and guidance not only from the larger industry associations and organized labour but also from workers and employers throughout the Northwest Territories who are less formally affiliated with public interest groups.

--Applause

The review should be driven by the need to make needed revisions to the act, and responsibility for operationalizing the review should rest with the Legislative Assembly. There must be a recognition that, just as it is important for the Workers' Compensation Board to exercise its jurisdiction over the administration of the act, it is vital that the Legislative Assembly maintain responsibility for the legislative process.

During the first session of the 12th Legislative Assembly, a new legislative process was introduced which vastly increases the level and type of public participation included in reviewing proposed legislation. One aspect of that process involves the preparation of a legislative action paper to outline principles and substance for inclusion in a proposed bill. There is an opportunity for the Assembly to then use its system of standing committees to receive public input on matters included in the legislative action paper before a bill is even drafted. When the bill comes forward, it reflects the input received from this preliminary review and is again subject to a more technical public and committee scrutiny following second reading.

Mr. Speaker, recommendation number two: This is the process favoured for review of the existing Workers' Compensation Act. Therefore, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions recommends that the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board prepare a legislative action paper outlining proposed areas for amending the Workers' Compensation Act, for tabling prior to December 31, 1992.

--- Applause

Mr. Speaker, this concludes the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions' interim report on the Workers' Compensation Board.

Motion To Move Committee Report 11-12(2) To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

To permit further discussion on the report and Its recommendations, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the interim report on the Workers' Compensation Board be moved into committee of the whole for consideration.