Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Workers' Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut has engaged in progressive steps to strengthen regulations under the Safety Act and the Mine Health and Safety Act. These steps will protect northern workers from the proven negative health effects of second-hand smoke. They include research, public consultations and partnering with other government departments and outside agencies to address the serious workplace health issue of environmental tobacco smoke.

Mr. Speaker, second-hand smoke is not present in the workplace as a result of a manufacturing or work process, nor is it essential to any manufacturing or work process. Its presence is entirely discretionary. However, what is not optional are the damaging health effects for workers involuntarily exposed to second-hand smoke. This is why, effective May 1st this year, smoking will be against the law in workplaces within the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

In September 2003, the governance council of the WCB approved the environmental tobacco smoke regulations to remove or restrict the source of pollution in northern workplaces by banning tobacco smoke. It forwarded the regulations to the NWT and Nunavut Ministers responsible for the WCB.

The regulations require that:

• • Employers prohibit workers' exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in enclosed work sites.
• • Workers cannot smoke in enclosed work sites.
• • Limited exceptions are made for private residential units, institutional facilities and live-in work camps.
• • Workers and Employers who fail to abide by the regulations may be fined.

Mr. Speaker, in December of 2003 the regulations were approved in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, calling for implementation throughout the NWT and Nunavut effective May 1, 2004. I want to assure employers that information and expertise is available from the WCB to help them comply with the new law.

In keeping with this vision and mission, the WCB continues to assist workers and employers in the North to make workplaces safer in northern Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT and Nunavut have become national leaders in worker safety in the industrial disease area as a result of these comprehensive regulations. I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, the Honourable Joseph Handley, and his colleagues of the day for introducing these important improvements. I congratulate all who were involved in moving these regulations through to the implementation stage of May 1, 2004, and look forward to ensuring a healthier work environment for all northern workers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause