Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With WSCC safe advantage penalties well over three-quarters of a million dollars with claims growth mounting through the roof, the GNWT announced, a year ago, a promise, a promise of a new culture of safety with a renewed comprehensive Occupational Health and Safety Training Program for all GNWT employees.
Sadly, this was too good to be true. We must ask ourselves, what has changed in the past year to our culture of safety? Did we adhere to the safety promise? Did we in fact provide the required leadership and management for this higher obligation of safety? Were we accountable to our own safety laws? Or did the GNWT and its senior management ignore all the warning signs and disregard their legal obligation to provide the implementation and administration of their own occupational health and safety policy?
I believe the courts have answered these questions for us loud and clear. Recently, in a Territorial Court, where the GNWT was a defendant in a health and safety case, presiding judge Garth Malakoe ruled on action 2013-000272, “The ultimate goal of workers’ safety legislation is to create a culture of safety within the organization. Those organizations which incorporate such a culture will avoid breeches of such legislation and the accompanying monetary penalty.”
Now, to be clear, the GNWT pleaded guilty at a relatively early stage of this case and was fined heavily. However, not before Judge Malakoe reminded us again, “The GNWT has a responsibility to all the workers in the Northwest Territories. Part of this responsibility is to ensure that lawmakers pass laws that protect the workers. The other part of this responsibility is to ensure that the operational departments of the GNWT obey these laws.”
Judge Malakoe further went on to say, “The GNWT has a heightened responsibility compared to that of the private corporation.” So, in essence, the GNWT must be held to a higher standard than the industry, and if we don’t respect our own laws, how then can industry be expected to obey the same laws? Clearly, we owe no less than that to the industry and workers we represent.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted