Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking to the motion in regard to issues that have been raised in the motion. I think it is important to realize that the direction that was given to the corporation came by way of the Act Now document, in which a lot of those have been implemented. They did a special audit of the operation of the Workers' Compensation Board, which was done by the Auditor General in 2002.

Also, they have done a reorganization of the Workers' Compensation Board to allow for the recommendations that came out of the Act Now. The Act Now came by way of two phases. The first phase was to look at the operation side. The second phase was to look at the legal parameters between the boards -- the appeals board, the governance council -- and also look at the rates that the corporation sets, which is now being developed under phase two.

That work is ongoing and will be coming to this House, hopefully we are looking at this fall, but because of this motion, it could delay that factor. I think it is important to realize that the Workers' Compensation Board does have to follow certain legislative responsibilities that we give it, from the Legislature, in regard to the Workers' Compensation Act and also through the Financial Administration Act. They have to follow our Financial Administration Act of this Legislature and also because of the Mine Health and Safety Act that is in place.

They are governed by these acts, which are passed by this Legislature. It is important to keep that in mind, in regard to this motion. One of the most critical concerns that I have with this motion is because of our relationship we have with our Nunavut colleagues and also because this board is a joint board which is shared by both territories.

I have been in correspondence with my colleagues in Nunavut and they are upset that this motion is coming forward in this manner, without them being consulted on such a motion, because we do have a joint arrangement. We do have a memorandum of understanding with Nunavut and ourselves in relation to this board that they will be consulted on these types of movements.

Again, I think it is crucial that we realize that this definitely does not sit well with my colleague from Nunavut because of the way this motion came about without having them consulted or made aware that such a motion was going to be there. I think it is important to realize that we do have obligations through a memorandum of understanding. We have signed with Nunavut and ourselves in the arrangement of how we manage this joint board and at those legislatures.

Like I stated in the House, I have had an opportunity to meet with my colleague in Nunavut on this matter. Again, they are upset because a lot of the legislation that came forth in regard to the board, the first in regard to phase one, we passed it in this Legislature and, basically, all they got to do in Nunavut was rubberstamp it. They were upset about that because they wanted to make some changes in regard to that legislation. Again, this is another situation where we have to realize that we have to work in conjunction with our colleagues in Nunavut, because we do share this board together and also we do have to consult each other on where we are going with this. I think it is important to note that.

Again, I think that the Member realizes that we are going through a process such as the implementation of the Act Now document. We have gone through phase one. Phase two will be coming to this House looking at the activities they have to do. There were some 100 resolutions passed. In order to do that, it took several years.

I think it is important to realize that the corporation is audited by the Auditor General every year and a report is tabled in this House to how their operation is audited. Also, you have to realize that there is definitely a distinction between the governance council and the Appeals Tribunal. Those are two separate bodies which were implemented through Act Now through phase one. If you are going to do an operational review, you have to ensure that you encompass each of those. Also, we do have operations that we have established through Nunavut because of implementation of phase one.

I just wanted to raise that. I think it is important that Members keep that in mind, that we do have a joint responsibility here. I have been notified by my colleague from Nunavut who is upset because of the way this motion came forward without their consultation. Thank you.