Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will read section nine, full funding. During the public hearings the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions repeatedly heard that it was necessary to protect the status of the Northwest Territories Workers' Compensation Board as a fully funded entity. "Full funding" was defined by the 1989 review committee as "a method of financing the cost of workers' compensation which seeks to meet all the costs arising from each year's compensatable accidents and diseases out of assessments on employers for that year." In other words, "full funding" involves meeting the full eventual costs of incurred claims from each year's accidents out of the assessments in that year -- including an estimate of the future costs of escalation of pension and other benefits.
Several of the industry associations and labour organizations appearing at the standing committee's public hearings, emphasized the importance of maintaining a fully funding board. As was pointed out well by the NWT Construction Association: "...we are fortunate that the NWT Workers' Compensation fund is one of the few fully funded programs in Canada. This is an important consideration, because the WCB is required to fulfill its responsibilities to injured workers, ofttimes over the length of their lifetimes. A fully funded insurance program is required. Otherwise the failure to adequately meet long-term responsibilities will result in increasing future taxation on employers. This would have a negative effect on the economy of the North, as the cost of doing business would have to rise and be passed on to consumers."
An idea raised over the course of the public hearings was that the Workers' Compensation Act should include a statutory requirement that the board maintain a fully funded status. The standing committee was uncertain of whether this is practical, but wished to urge the Minister to examine the concept over the course of his consideration of legislative initiatives. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, recommendation 17.
Motion To Accept Recommendation 17, Carried
I move that the Minister include in the legislative action paper a consideration of the concept of incorporating a requirement that the Workers' Compensation Board be fully funded within the Workers' Compensation Act.
That concludes my section, Mr. Chairman.