Question.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This concludes the recommendations and motions of the Standing Committee on Finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me is Dorothy Chattell who is in charge of finance, Mr. Gerry Muir who is the new general manager appointed in late December, and our new chairman, Mr. Jeff Gilmour who was recently the assistant deputy minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to publicly congratulate the Minister on the appointment of Mr. Gilmour to the chair of the Workers' Compensation Board. I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Gilmour in other capacities and I am confident he has the right qualities to take on this difficult assignment. I am also very pleased with what I have heard of the success of the new general manager in improving morale in the board.

I also want to say I have had a chance to review the legislative review done by Mr. Garven and I think, given the time constraints, it is a very thoughtful and helpful piece of work.

I want to say generally, having been involved with the board myself as the previous Minister, I am aware better than most that it has been under intense scrutiny in the past year or so. Although sometimes the questions and criticisms have not been entirely fair to the employees, I think we should look on this scrutiny as healthy. I do not think the Workers' Compensation Board has ever undergone such scrutiny since it was established as it has in the last year. Everyone should view this as positive, helpful and indicating fundamentally a well intentioned concern that the board work well, that rates be kept as low as possible and services to workers be maximized. I think the board and the new Minister are off to a very good start. I would like to think I have had a small role in helping prepare for some of the changes which have been put in place. However, everything I have heard indicates things are moving forward and that the motions which were presented by this committee will be dealt with expeditiously. There are some tough choices ahead and some difficult issues which have been thrust on the board. I am confident under the leadership of Mr. Todd and Mr. Gilmour, with the new blood on the board, that these difficult issues will be tackled. I want to wish them well in their work ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This is a long outstanding issue which our colleague, Mr. Gargan, has raised on a number of occasions. I want to assure everyone that the memorandum of agreement is close to completion. Historically, $200,000 has been the kind of dollars required. The financial responsibility for this falls upon the Department of Renewable Resources. If there is a requirement for more, then we will go and ask them for it. I would say the agreement is a week to ten days away from being finalized. Based on some historical experience, they feel $200,000 is sufficient.

I suspect because there was no agreement being reached in terms of the memorandum, I cannot speak for the Department of Renewable Resources, perhaps it did not include it because of this. I would think what will happen is they will come in with a supplementary appropriation. I want to assure everyone there is an understanding between the WCB and the Department of Renewable Resources that when the memorandum of agreement is signed it will meet the concerns and the issues which were raised frequently by Mr. Gargan. It will meet the needs and requirements of legitimate hunters and trappers.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When the Legislative Assembly started, I raised a concern with the Minister of WCB. In January, 1992, the president of mining at Nanisivik and Polaris had some concerns regarding the WCB. At that time, he said he was going to be meeting with WCB members. Can you inform me if his concerns were addressed, or has he spoken to the WCB regarding these concerns? Thank you.

Mr. Pudluk had raised this issue in the House earlier regarding me not meeting with the mining people. That was an unfortunate communication problem. I want to assure the honourable Member that the mining industry and particularly the Nanisivik and Polaris group are currently in contact with the chairman. I believe meetings are scheduled for next month. The principle concern of the mining industry, and it is understandable, was the rates and the costs associated with it. We are trying to address that issue by looking at some of the options which have been laid out in the Workers' Compensation Board legislative review document. I want to assure the honourable Member that the board is communicating with the mining industry, and I will be meeting with the chamber of mines soon myself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to people who come up from the south to work, do they make a contribution to compensation and do we cover their injuries if they have an accident?

If a worker is hurt within our jurisdiction, then we are responsible for the compensation. For example, if a transient worker goes into Lupin Mine and is hurt there, we are responsible for his benefits.