Mr. Chairman, part five, a regional presence for the Workers' Compensation Board. The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned about the failure of the board to establish a profile outside of Yellowknife. The committee was made aware of the argument that because the majority of reported claims are

received from the Fort Smith region, the board must maintain its central location. However, it may be useful to know that the 1991 annual report tabled in the Legislative Assembly on June 22, 1992, showed that the proportion of claims from the Fort Smith Region has decreased from 67 per cent of the total in 1989, to 59 per cent of the total in 1991. Increases in the relative number of claims from the Kitikmeot and Baffin Regions were observed over the course of the same period. Only time will tell whether this is a signal of a shift in the proportional distribution of claims reported by the region.

The client service audit completed by the Workers' Compensation Board in February of 1991 indicates that, for the most part, there are few differences in the levels of satisfaction reported by workers and employers in various regions. However, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned that workers in locations outside of Yellowknife may know less about the board and its services. Certainly the fact that northern communities outside Yellowknife has been almost non-existent by members of the board, and rare at best by staff, has provided little opportunity for this agency to develop a profile across the Northwest Territories.

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions has noted that one of the central goals of the Workers' Compensation Board is to communicate and promote an understanding of workers' compensation. The standing committee feels that new approaches will be necessary in order for the board to fulfill that goal in locations outside Yellowknife or the rest of the Fort Smith Region. The standing committee was concerned that in many communities across the Northwest Territories, neither the role nor the procedures of the Workers' Compensation Board are well understood. The organization is seen as large, depersonalized, and Yellowknife-based.

Part of the stated responsibility of the workers' advisors on workers' compensation matters, is to travel to communities outside the larger centres, and the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned to learn that no specific budget had been allocated for this purpose. Discussion with the workers' advisor during public hearings revealed that outreach travel to smaller communities had not been possible to date. Recommendation 5, Mr. Chairman:

Motion To Accept Recommendation 5, Carried

I move that the role of the workers' advisor be clarified with respect to responsibilities for communicating and promoting and understanding of workers' compensation in communities across the Northwest Territories; and further, that adequate funding be allocated to support activities undertaken in this area by the workers' advisor.