Agreed.
Debates of Nov. 13th, 1998
This is page numbers 407 - 438 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was nunavut.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. My witness is my legal counsel, Elaine Keenan-Bengts.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I have some questions if that is permissible at this point?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I wonder if I could have the question addressed as to the public consultation that has taken place on this particular bill. Who may have provided submissions and what those submissions and concerns were?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
November 12th, 1998
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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. While I did not do that much personal consultation at this particular time, there have been other committees, including the Workers' Compensation Board itself who did do consultations and have written reports indicating the Workers' Compensation Act should be changed to reflect what I am doing here today.
As the committee report had indicated, there were some people who made presentations at the public hearings, including the Minister responsible for WCB, CAW Canada and an employer. They were generally in favour of the amendments we are proposing. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Were any recommendations made to change the bill that have not been incorporated into this particular amendment to the act?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. There was a recommendation to allow lawsuits in the case of general liability insurance. It was my feeling and the seconder of the original motion that this was not in keeping with the general intent of Workers' Compensation. In fact, we were the only jurisdiction in Canada that actually allowed this. We would continue to be the only jurisdiction if we continued to allow it. While we did move on other recommendations, we did not incorporate this particular recommendation into the amendment. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Could Mr. Erasmus tell us who it was that had the desire to address the issue of lawsuits in the case of general insurance?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. It was the Workers' Compensation Board itself and I believe we had received a letter from a private citizen as well. I cannot recall exactly who it was.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I wonder if Mr. Erasmus can again explain to us why that was not incorporated into the bill? What was the reasoning behind that?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chairperson. As I explained earlier, the intent of workers' compensation is to have a no-fault insurance scheme, whereby employees receive benefits and get a percentage of their wages and get medical treatment and whatnot after they are injured on the job, whether or not they are at fault themselves and they do not have to prove fault on the employer's part. In return, the worker will not sue his employer or another employee. We felt that to allow this type of thing would be inconsistent with that.
Also, we looked at the previous ten year history on this area where this had occurred in the past. Benefits going to the actual families or the injured workers themselves seem to be insignificant. Most of the money seems to be going up in smoke in the lawsuits as expenses. We did not feel that it was worth it to be the only jurisdiction in Canada that would allow something like this for those types of benefits. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
I understand that the Workers' Compensation Board felt that there is a possibility here of elimination of revenue source, which could mean that employer assessments will rise. I wonder if Mr. Erasmus could address that issue for us?