Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will table the review of Workers' Compensation in the Northwest Territories. The review was prepared by Mr. Garnet Garven, former chairperson and chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board and presently a research fellow at the National Centre for Management, Research and Development at the Western Business School, University of Western Ontario. The review was initiated by the former Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, the Honourable Dennis Patterson, on the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions. In their interim report under workers' compensation, the committee recommended "that the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board prepare a legislative action paper outlining proposed areas for amending the Workers' Compensation Act..."

Mr. Speaker, this review is not meant to serve as a legislative action paper. The time lines and scope of this review did not allow for the development of such a paper in the short two months that Mr. Garven was given to complete his work. Rather, it is intended to serve as a blueprint, identifying the broad policy considerations to be included in the legislative action paper. It is my intention to develop and present this paper to the Legislative Assembly prior to the end of this current sitting.

Although the primary focus of this review has been the interim and final reports of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions, the chief commissioner also reviewed previous reports on the Workers' Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories. Meetings were also held with employer and labour organizations, past and current directors of the board, management and staff of the board and the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada. I will stress, Mr. Speaker, that this consultation process was not meant to be exhaustive. It is important that the amendments to this very important legislation be done in consultation with all stakeholder groups. These groups will have other opportunities to provide their views on the amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act during the review of the legislative action paper and the review of the proposed new bill. Thank you.

---Applause