Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Workers' Compensation Board does a lot of really good work in a number of areas. It has been established with the partnership of employers and workers to help keep accident rates down. When accidents do happen, they deal with them in an effective and responsible manner.
Mr. Speaker, in the last Assembly, we changed some legislation here that would enable the Appeals Tribunal of the Workers' Compensation Board to be much more appropriately set up as a truly and, in very practical terms, an arm's length and an independent system from the regular workings of the WCB. The idea here is when an injured worker does have an issue with the decision of the regular compensation board program, that there is a process that they can trust will completely, thoroughly and independently assess the decision and the process and take action to correct it if they so find.
But, Mr. Speaker, our NWT/Nunavut Appeals Tribunal has not gone the fullest extent, I believe, in terms of establishing itself as truly independent. We still have, Mr. Speaker, an administration for the Appeals Tribunal that is, in effect, the Workers' Compensation Board administration. We still have physical offices and other such connections that are still in place. This is not appropriate.
Mr. Speaker, I note from talking with some injured workers, that when decisions are rendered by the Appeals Tribunal, they can take several months before implementation begins. Perhaps a more significant problem is that decisions, as rendered by the Appeals Tribunal, go back to the WCB; in effect, back to be implemented and sometimes interpreted by the same people who may have caused the worker to file an appeal in the first place. So there are significant issues of a legislative and an administrative and a governance role, I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, need to be addressed within our Workers' Compensation Board. Thank you.
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