Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off I would like to point out that everybody in the Northwest Territories, every employer in the Territories has typically seen an increase over the past three or four years. Until 2003, because of good investments, the accident fund was what was called over funded. The governance council thought that in order to reduce their over funded position and to give some money back to employers, that they would offer subsidies. So up until 2003 there was a 35 percent discount. Mr. Speaker, that means that if your rates were $1 per hundred that you were paying, after the discount, 65 cents per hundred. Between 2003 and 2006 that discount was taken off. It was reduced over time. That means that somebody's rate has gone from, or apparent rate, has gone from 65 cents a hundred to $1 a hundred. If you look at it thinking that 65 cents is your starting point, you've seen a 54 percent increase in your rates.
So what has happened, that is something that is outside what is seen as or what has happened in terms of accident records to change rates. Over the same period of time, the accidents that have been seen in different categories have caused them to go up. Now, the board has a policy that changes of more than 25 percent will not be allowed. That's a policy decision. It's one that the board has instituted in order to make sure that sudden changes aren't seen. I'm advised that if they had actually allowed the rates to go to where they should be for this category, that they would be in excess of $4 instead of at $2.93 per hundred. So right now, the board has already made a policy decision to make sure that the amount is, or that this group is, protected from a rate increase.
I think that the governance council members are meeting with the quick service restaurants as we speak, I believe, and I have no doubt that the same question will be put to them there. This is a policy decision that the governance council could take. They could take a position that a lesser amount of increase was allowed and I have no doubt that it is a question that they will consider. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.