Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Finance is generally satisfied with the direction the board has taken recently. Recent initiatives such as an affirmative action plan, consideration of a merit rebate/surcharge policy, and a refocussing of the rehabilitation program show that the board is improving greatly in service to their clients and in their own management.
Committee Members would like to see the board move a little more quickly on some items. While the affirmative action plan seems to have promise, we wonder when it will be implemented. Also, since the adoption of the new physical impairment rates in July 1993, the committee would like to see the board perform a quick evaluation now of the effect of those rates, as well as conducting a complete evaluation after one year.
Approaches such as the early intervention policy, and gearing the rehabilitation program towards getting workers back to work, are to be applauded. Committee Members feel that the quicker a worker is back to work, the better their self-esteem and attitude will be.
The committee is concerned about high accident rates in the mining and construction industries. While more safety inspectors would help lower these rates, as we discussed under Safety and Public Services, we feel the board should provide further incentive for these industries to improve by implementing a merit rebate/surcharge policy. Committee Members believe that the time is past for merely talking about such a policy, and that it should be implemented as soon as possible. I have a motion to present on that at the conclusion of this narrative, Mr. Chairman.
The committee is also concerned that the board's costs are quite high. While we recognize that this board has an important mandate, and that things have improved recently, the committee would still like to see the board continue to work towards minimizing costs. As for the backlog of claims in the appeals process, committee members approve of the plan to clear the backlog, and hope that the board will be able to better control its costs once those cases are dealt with.
Committee Members are encouraged by the board's recent progress. Although there has been some negative publicity towards the board lately, we wonder how true a reflection that publicity is of the attitude of most of the board's clients. The committee encourages the board to act quickly when responding to legitimate complaints, and to continue with the improvements that have been implemented to date.
I have one motion to now propose, Mr. Chairman.