Mr. Speaker, both the board of directors and the administration of WCB are well aware that perhaps one of our failings in this new direction we've been taking is the fact that we have been unable to speed up the appeal process. I'm told that the appeal process -- and it is almost embarrassing to say -- takes somewhere between 300 and 400 days. We currently have a backlog of somewhere around 44 appeals. I understand there are about three or four pending, so we should be looking at somewhere between 40 and 50 appeals. If it takes 300 to 400 days I will probably be dead by the time we get them all done.
We do recognize the seriousness of this and the frustration, particularly if you're the worker who is injured and have brought forward the appeal. Just recently, we've initiated -- through the chairperson of the appeals committee, Mr. Bourque -- a commitment to sit for a full six month period to try to clear up those appeals. It is recognized as an issue. It is a long, drawn-out process. It is not a simple one. I have a commitment from the chairman and the committee that they will make every effort to bring the backlog of those appeals to some conclusion, as quickly as possible. Thank you.