Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to put a brief comment about some of the provisions in this bill for the record, as I am fully aware that this bill will not be going through normal committee hearing process as it has been in the convention and practice. I just want to speak on not just the provisions in this legislation but the policy changes that will come about in the next Legislature that will help, I think, the work of the Members.

I made a presentation to the commission when it was consulting and taking input from the public. I had the occasion to meet with the commission...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to add, also, my support for this motion and say a few words. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you the first time I heard this idea from my colleague Mr. Menicoche, I got really excited about it. I think it’s one of the most boldest, maybe quite not new because we are borrowing it from Alaska, but why not borrow something when you see it and you like it? I just think that this is one of the most meaningful things that I’m going to leave behind as a Member of this Legislature. I see this as a start of great things. It’s not only creating physical space, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions to the Minister are dealing with not only the court decision and dealing with the tribunal process, but a lot of other things that have to go in. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that Justice Schuler has said is that this WCB continues to deal with chronic condition as a temporary measure. They look at it as an injury. You’re going to get treated and if you don’t, well, too bad, so sad. You’re not going to be entitled to permanent partial disability or the same treatment as everybody else would. So I’d like to ask the Minister, as a Minister outside of this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for WCB and it’s further to my Member’s statement. Mr. Speaker, the basic rule of WCB is to have an insurance system that keeps the employers and the employees out of the core system. It’s very unfortunate that workers have had to go through the judicial system to get some relief. But if any, especially those suffering from chronic pain conditions, thought that the Supreme Court of Canada decision Martin or the Supreme Court of the NWT decision Valic were going to give them any relief and justice, I’m not...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a note of caution to the Minister. The provisions, as he’s just read to us, are pretty broad and it really leaves a lot of room to the judgment of the parks officers. That’s okay, but sometimes we may need narrow confines in the interest of the parks officers, so if anybody challenges them, they have the force of the law or regulations that they can refer to and present to the people who may object to being fined or charged because they are interfering with the natural environment. I guess this would be a whole new area for the parks officers to get into once...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A few general comments and some questions, Mr. Chairman. Obviously it’s not too difficult to support the intent and the content of what this bill is trying to achieve. I think that I don’t know exactly what incident or incidents may have given a rise to this amendment in a way that it had to be done in a very expeditious manner. I wasn’t purview to the GED committee who probably got some more detailed information, but I can think of situations that have happened in Yellowknife at the Fred Henne Park last summer that could probably speak to the merits of such a bill...

...arts and crafts industries. Mr. Speaker, I am very serious. Look at this building; look at this Chamber. When people come and visit, what do they remember? I don’t think they remember who is sitting in these chairs. They remember the beautiful artwork. They do remember that. Everywhere we go around the world people talk about how beautiful this Legislature is, because it’s more than a building. It’s a work of art and why can we not create that in every place that we build? Technology is there and it’s about matter of will and matter of priority. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I reject everything that the Minister has said in terms of how the board understands this decision. It’s very clear in the Minister’s answer last week that he’s going by what the board is saying. I’m telling you, this decision is saying that the board, the tribunal, the appeals tribunal, and the reassessment team screwed up. Okay? I mean, people have done wrong things. So I’d like to ask the Minister, because I could see that this could, I think the only way to fix this is the workers have their own lawyers to go through the process. So I’d like to ask the Minister if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be satisfied with that, but given the Minister’s answers in the House last week, which seems to suggest that this decision is not as far in depth and breadth as they should be, I think that this was quite a decision. The courts said that the board violated natural justice, basically saying the process was denied. The board failed to ask for rehearing when it should have. The board failed to give notice to Mr. Valic when it should have. A tribunal fettered its discretion, meaning it didn’t do its job. The tribunal did not look at the details...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I’d like to take this opportunity to just make a very short comment about the motion and in support of the motion, but also to say something about how…I can’t think of a word, but I guess "good" is a good word; how good it feels to have this Human Rights Commission up and running. I feel like I’ve watched there from its inception and for the longest time we were the only jurisdiction, or one of the very few jurisdictions in Canada without our own Human Rights Commission and it’s really rewarding, I guess that’s the word, to see the project start from the...