Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would ask the Minister to commit to investigating that because, obviously, if the rate has gone from 48 to 58 cents, that is not a 6 percent increase and neither is it a 15 percent increase. So I hope the Minister will seek the truth on that.
The Safe Advantage program is meant to be self-funded and independent from the claims budget. It’s a separate budget. However, my understanding is that penalties income is less than rewards paid out. There’s also rewards paid out, not just penalties in the Safe Advantage program. That’s resulting in a deficit. We’re paying out more in rewards than we’re taking in penalties.
I have to assume the deficit is being made up from the claims budget, which is supposed to be independent. If this is true and we have safer practices today, which we should with Safe Advantage, to what degree is this the cause of the steep increases in rates that businesses are being asked to pay?