Sergeant-at-Arms, could you escort the witness in, please?

Mr. Chairman, with me is Lew Voytilla, secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you.

Welcome, Mr. Voytilla. Yesterday we were in general comments. Any comments with regard to the bill?

Does the committee agree?

Are you sure now?

---Laughter

Clause By Clause

Clause 1.

Schedule, forgiveness total, $952,881.09.

Bill as a whole?

Does the committee agree Bill 20 is now ready for third reading?

Bill 20 is now ready for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you, witness.

We agreed the next item was Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Safety Act. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, Mr. Handley, if he has any opening comments. Mr. Handley.

Minister's Opening Comments

Yes, Mr. Chairman. It's my pleasure to provide the committee with the opening remarks for Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Safety Act. Members will recall that in January 2002, a Legislative Review Panel submitted its report entitled Act Now recommending changes to the Workers' Compensation Act and the Safety Act. Earlier this year, Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act was passed by this legislature and as part of the response to the Act Now report, Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Safety Act, has been introduced. This bill is a positive step to improve the health and safety of workers in the Northwest Territories.

A key component of any legislation is clearly identifying the person to whom it applies and setting out their responsibility. This has been done through amendments to the various definitions and establishing, for the first time, that persons who supply tools and equipment have a responsibility to ensure they are safe and directions are given for their proper use. Often there will be more than one employer working on a worksite. Their activities have to be coordinated so as to ensure the health and safety of their workers is not jeopardized. The principal contractor will now have this responsibility and if there is no principal contractor, the owner of the worksite will be responsible for coordinating the activities of various employees.

Amendments to permit safety officers to issue stop work directions when employers refuse to rectify potential dangers will eliminate the necessity of resorting to costly and time-consuming court proceedings. The current Safety Act only requires employers to have safety committees. However, modern occupational health and safety philosophy requires employers to have appropriate safety programs. Safety committees are but one part of a proper safety program. These amendments will require employers to develop appropriate safety programs for their business. Regulations will be drafted to assist employers to determine the appropriate safety programs for them.

A safety advisory committee made up of representatives of the interest of workers, employers and shared by the chief safety officer will have a mandate to advise on the amendments to the act and regulations that are required in the interest of occupational health and safety. Codes of practice have been used to assist workers and employers to understand sections of the act and regulations which are often unclear. The intention is that codes and practices will be based on the industry's best practice and remain in place until proper regulations can be developed.

Provisions of the act related to disclosure of information will be brought in line to recognize the fact that the WCB has been given responsibility to administer a number of acts related to health and safety in the Territories and can use information obtained under the Safety Act to properly administer other legislation.

The bill also recognizes the Workers' Compensation Board's obligations under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Because the WCB is a shared NWT/Nunavut board, any changes to NWT legislation must be mirrored in Nunavut. The content of the legislative proposal was developed with input from both governments. I would like to give well-deserved credit to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight who spent a great deal of time reviewing the bill. Our discussions with AOC were constructive and helpful and I thank them for their contributions to the bill.

In closing, I would like to thank the members of the legislative review panel who provided the foundation for amendments that have been presented today. Mr. Chairman, they are Louise Vertes, chairperson; Shona Barkley, Dan Hallordson, Steve Petersen, David Samailak, Alex Stuit and Don Yamkowy. I would also like to thank the board and staff of WCB and the Department of Justice for their diligence for developing these amendments and the Government of Nunavut for their cooperation in ensuring this bill will be ready to go forward during the life of our representative governments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. At this time, I would like to ask the committee responsible for reviewing this bill if they have any comments. Mr. Roland.

Standing Committee On Accountability And Oversight Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight conducted public reviews of Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Safety Act, on August 28 and September 19, 2003. The committee would like to thank the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. There were no other witnesses.

The committee was pleased to see these amendments which will help make NWT workplaces safer. Some of the amendments address recommendations made in the December 2001 report of the WCB Legislative Review Panel titled Act Now. The committee is particularly supportive of the creation of the Safety Advisory Committee made up of representatives from employers and workers which will have a mandate to make recommendations to the Minister on the act and regulations.

Members requested clarification on amendments that would make suppliers responsible for the safety of equipment and other things they provide to workplaces. The committee was advised that the supplier's obligation is limited to providing safe equipment and instructions for use. If someone uses the equipment in a manner that they are not supposed to and the supplier has provided safe equipment and proper instructions, the supplier will not be held responsible.

The committee was also advised that the definition of "supplier" is broad and could include a number of individuals and businesses in a particular case; for example, storefront operations, which might not be very familiar with all the equipment they are supplying.

The WCB would look at the facts of each case and would only be interested in prosecuting those who are truly responsible for unsafe supplies. The Minister's staff also clarified that owners are only responsible for safety where there is no principal contractor on a worksite. The example provided is if a building owner hired some people to wash the windows, that owner would be responsible for safety. If the owner hired a contractor to wash the windows, safety would be the contractor's responsibility. The committee did have a concern that the bill would remove the existing subsection 11(3) from the act. Section 11(3) currently reads, "Except for the purposes of this act, no safety officer shall divulge the name of any person from whom information is obtained in confidence." This section contains what is commonly referred to as protection for whistleblowers.

In combination with other provisions of the act, it is designed to ensure that no consequences will be directed towards persons making complaints to safety officers regarding safety concerns. Confidentiality in such situations is key to that protection.

The Minister and his staff advised the committee that it was not necessary to keep the provision in the Safety Act because the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act provides similar protections. Members were, however, concerned that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act might not provide as strong a protection as subsection 11(3) and also believed it was useful to have a clear statement on confidentiality in the Safety Act itself.

It is the committee's understanding that the Minister will be bringing forward a motion in Committee of the Whole to amend the bill to reinstate a provision similar to subjection 11(3). The committee will be supporting this motion.

During the discussion on subsection 11(3), Members also raised concerns there may not be adequate protection to people who make safety complaints of their employers. Members realize this issue goes behind the scope of Bill 23, but would recommend the WCB undertake research and give consideration to whether further amendments are needed.

During the clause-by-clause review of Bill 23, the committee passed four motions to amend the bill at the request of the Minister. Two of the motions will remove provisions allowing for specific penalties to be set out in regulations. The committee was advised by the Minister that these amendments were no longer necessary as a summary of convictions procedures regulations provide the required authority. Another motion provides that the bill will come into force on a day or days to be fixed by the order of the Commissioner, rather than immediately. This amendment was necessary because some sections in the bill cannot be brought into effect until regulations are in place. The amended provision will allow time for the Safety Advisory Committee to develop recommendations for regulations. The fourth motion was of a minor and non-substantive nature.

This concludes the committee's opening comments on Bill 23. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Following the committee's review, a motion was carried to report Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Safety Act, to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. I would like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in any witnesses.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Does the committee agree that the Minister bring in his witnesses?