Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Minister and executives, for coming before the Assembly and Committee of the Whole today. This

meeting here is not one of a kind, Mr. Chairman. It is a continuance of the public process that this Assembly initiated some time ago now, some months ago with the Auditor General of Canada to review the performance of the WCB, especially as it relates to the handling of the claims of injured workers and how their interest could be better met and more efficiently met.

Mr. Speaker, the Report of the Auditor General of Canada was tabled and publicly reviewed by the committee last June for some three days. I believe it was September, Mr. Chairman, that we had a further public review of the progress to that time. What we are hearing today is the discussion about WCB's commitment to bring forward an action plan on the recommendations that came from the Auditor General. I believe there were some 34 or 36 recommendations.

So the committee chose to use this venue, the Committee of the Whole and Legislature, as a good way to continue the whole idea of a public review, the opportunity for the public to see and hear our discussion. We have the benefit here of television, radio, live broadcast on the web and it's an expression, Mr. Chair, of the committee's mandate and desire to open up the business of what we do and how we engage with agencies and organizations of the GNWT, like the WCB. I personally want to see much, much more of this kind of thing on an ongoing basis. I believe that will strengthen not only the job that we do here, but I think that overall that transparency and openness and the ability to hear and listen and at times participate in what we do is indeed a major cornerstone of good government. So I'm pleased that we're continuing to open up the discussions and the affairs of the WCB.

Mr. Chairman, the Minister tabled quite a bit of paper in relation to the recommendations that have been made. In some areas I find that they are indeed a work in progress. Some of the recommendations have been satisfied or are close to being satisfied, and that is understandable that we are certainly not looking for a quick and complete turnaround. A number of things that were identified are complex and will take time to move on.

Some of the responses that we've received, Mr. Chairman, we're going to be probing for some more information. Some of the responses, quite frankly, I find very wanting; and, in fact, continue, regrettably, Mr. Speaker, continue a sort of pattern and habit that we've seen within the WCB to avoid or defer or deflect attention from what we have requested and what the Auditor General has also recommended. So this will be where I'm going to go, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to other comments and getting into some detail.