Bill Braden

...and the old-fashioned, patronizing, colonial mandarins. There are a few of them in Ottawa who I think are the real barriers to us moving along. We’ve had decades of long-distance rule, Mr. Chairman, and on one hand I tend to think if I was in their shoes I’d say, my gosh, after all these years of paying money into that big pink part of the map we’re finally getting a return, do you think I’m going to let any of it go? No. I want to see the coffers of Canada finally repaid by that northern sinkhole up there. But now we’re on the verge of becoming an enormously rich contributor to the...

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

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board. In my statement earlier, I gave a bit of a five-year snapshot, Mr. Speaker, of the incidents and the rise of claims by injured workers. It’s up about 10 percent in five years and it’s quite understandable, given the level of activity in the NWT. But our claims division has rejected two-and-a-half times the number of claims filed from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Speaker, this would certainly seem to indicate that we’re taking very much an adversarial position decidedly against...

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. In 1999, Mr. Speaker, 2,911 workers filed claims with the Workers’ Compensation Board. In 2003, five years later, that number rose to 3,349; about a 10 percent increase in the total number of claims filed. An interesting statistic, Mr. Speaker, is that the number of claims rejected in 1999 was 186, and, in 2003, it was 435; an increase of about 240 percent. Mr. Speaker, I have been making statements for several days now on the state of affairs in our claims adjudication and implementation of services of the WCB. Statistics of this nature tell me that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To set a course for the future, whether it’s a short or a medium or a long-term one, it really helps me to get a sense of where we could be if I’m able to see the future and then know that I’ll be able to take action on the future. This is the opportunity that I think we’ve been given here. It’s a huge opportunity for ourselves and for our sister territories to really be able to envision and shape and set our sights on who we want to be, where we want to go, how we want to work and understand each other, and how we’re going to set our relationships up with the rest...

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.

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?

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to repeat the recognition for Sandi Briscoe and the service that she has provided many of us through her years in Ottawa. Good luck, Sandi. I would also like to recognize a constituent, Josie Gould, here in her capacity today representing the Council of Persons with Disabilities. As well, a former colleague of mine from my journalistic days and media personality, Marty Brown.

---Applause