Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is right; we do have a high number of accidents or incidents in the workplace, but because of the workers' compensation system, it numbers somewhere about 3,000 individuals a year. We do have an appeals process and I think that because we have seen a change in attitude, we're starting to see more people coming back with appeals that have been appealed in the past and also allowing the Appeals Tribunal to do their job. I think one thing that we've seen in the past is because there was a major backlog of the number of cases, we have put more resources and more people in that office to process these appeals. Right now, as it sits, through the number of accidents that are being reported and the number of people coming forward with applications, almost 90 percent of them are being processed through the Workers' Compensation Board. That leaves 10 percent that are being appealed. So in the national average, that's about where things are at.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, I might take issue with a couple of the numbers. I'm just looking at the 2003 annual report, which is the latest document before the public. Mr. Speaker, the number of claims appealed bounced up considerably. Let's look at that five-year picture from 1999 with 36 claims appealed; in 2003, 60 claims were appealed; a 60 percent increase. Is this not also a sign that our claims system needs an overhaul, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, we do have a 90 percent rate of processing applications. Again, I think because of changes in legislation, we are now dealing with a federal corporate ruling which dealt with a chronic pain disorder, which is now being diagnosed as part of the compensation system and because of the Supreme Court decision, we're starting to see more people coming forward with those types of complaints where before they were rejected. Now that we have this new decision made by the Supreme Court, people are coming forward again, filing their appeals on the basis of this new ruling.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

That would be a very tangible and believable explanation, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that court ruling came out after the block of statistics that I'm talking about. So I think the Minister is trying to wedge something in here that doesn't really reflect the difference here. I would also suggest the Minister go back and check his math. The number of claims appealed is about double what he suggests it is, and I would say again we're looking at 36 claims in 1999 and about 60 in 2002.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday l pressed the Minister on the recommendation for an operational review as posted by the Act Now legislative review, but his answers seemed to link us very closely with our sister territory Nunavut, of course, with which we share this board. I'm looking for answers, Mr. Speaker, for NWT injured workers. My question is do we have to wait for Nunavut's authorization to go ahead with an operational review before we can begin to look after our own injured workers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I don't believe we need an operational review. It is a costly endeavour and the monies that are spent to operate the workers' compensation come out of the employers' and employees' pockets. I think that we have to realize that, and also realize that they do an audited statement every year, through the Auditor General of Canada. Also, they have concluded a review in 2002 in regard to a special audit that was done on the operation. If the Member would like, I can get him a copy of that audit that has been done on the operations in 2002, to show him exactly how that review was done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, of course, the audited reviews and reports are available for every one of our agencies and departments. That is not what I am looking at, Mr. Speaker. It is a review of the way in which we treat injured workers, not the numbers. Assessment rates went up for employers in 2003, Mr. Speaker, but acceptance rates for injured workers' claims are going down. Meanwhile our fund remains remarkably strong, at a robust 110 percent, according to 2003 figures.

Which is more important, Mr. Speaker, the fund or the injured worker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the workers' compensation system we have in the North is probably one of the best we have in the country. It does meet the requirement of having no-fault insurance, so no one will get sued, but also to ensure that the workers, when they do get injured in the workplace, are taken care of. That is the whole idea of the regime and also having an appeals systems so those members who are rejected, when they put an application forward on whatever grounds, have an opportunity to appeal that decision.

In order to allow for that independence, they do a rigorous job of having hearings; basically doing investigations. All through that, the decision is made by the final Appeals Tribunal, which is forwarded back to the board to say yes or no. I think that we do have a process that is the best in the country and I think it is working great.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice today. Mr. Speaker, the Premier shared with us a process whereby money gets approved in our system and had indicated that you can't just add money back into budgets or spend money at will. It needs to go through a process to be voted on and to be debated and consulted on and so on. I would like to ask Minister Dent a question today, because I find it curious that cost overruns in one area results in, what I think to be, cuts in another area. I would like to ask Mr. Dent what process he went through whereby he secured the $1.5 million for the overruns for the operations for the North Slave Correctional Centre. Where did he get the money? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven't ever said that we had cost overruns at the North Slave Correctional Centre. The department didn't seek supplementary funding for the operations. There will have been some money that would have been allocated from one resource to another, whether it was permanent employees to overtime, or permanent employees to casual, it would have been handled through the normal process. The overrun that has been referred to isn't something that we have characterized as an overrun. We haven't come to this House and sought supplementary appropriation for it. The department will be very close to its budget, the allotment that was provided by this House last year. At this point, I think there is a good likelihood that we will be within budget, although, as I said, it will be very close. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, then I am led to believe -- and I hope the Minister can understand why I am a little sensitive about this subject of where we spend money, because of where we are needing to cut money, Mr. Speaker -- that the independent review on the North Slave Correctional Centre, that the Corrections Canada intervention at the North Slave Correctional Centre, the wrongful dismissal suits, the overtime, the paid leave, all these things were manageable within the existing budget of the North Slave Correctional Centre. That is amazing, considering that we have gutted the budgets for other facilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Corrections Canada paid the entire cost for their staff to come up and work with our staff in the facility here. They feel that it is a good training opportunity for their staff to see how another operation works, as well. We sought the assistance from an experienced person in B.C. on the human resources side, and the corrections department in B.C. only asked that we pay 25 percent of his salary for his work with us, as well as his transportation costs.

We have gone out to find economic ways to accomplish things. There was always an expectation that in the move to the new facility, there would be a requirement for increased overtime and casual use, because you have to train people and you can't train people without having extra staff on at times to make sure that the coverage is always there. Some of the overtime had been expected and, yes, we have been struggling to live within budget. Some of the cost-saving measures that I have outlined to the Member already included the reduced use of casuals in the North Slave facility, through moving all of the young offenders to Hay River for a period of time. Thank you.