Under the new Workers’ Compensation Acts that comes into force on April 1, the Workers’ Compensation Board name will change to the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC). This reflects the shift in philosophy to emphasize safety and prevention in addition to fair compensation for injured workers. Later today I will table the Workers’ Compensation Board’s “2008 Corporate Plan,” a document encapsulating the WCB’s enhanced direction.
The “2008 Corporate Plan” is proactive and sets the strategic direction for the coming year. It guides the organization to achieve its mission to promote workplace safety and care for injured workers. The corporate plan is developed in correlation with the annual report. The corporate plan looks forward, while the annual report responds to the objectives outlined in the corporate plan.
In developing the “2008 Corporate Plan,” the WCB sought stakeholder participation to establish priorities and goals. The “2008 Corporate Plan” sets out and explains the importance of the WCB’s priorities, the associated goals, and the means by which they will be measured. The corporate plan flows into the balanced scorecard, which is presented in the annual report. The scorecard highlights the WCB’s results and measures performance of the priorities and goals set in the corporate plan.
The Workers’ Compensation Board values openness and transparency. As a means to foster this openness, the Governance Council also initiated activity reporting to provide stakeholders with frequent and current operations updates. The “Activities Report” presents a summary of WCB activities, programs and projects. The report is prepared and published quarterly and allows stakeholders to track progress and evaluate the WCB’s success.
As I noted, the Workers’ Compensation Board’s name will be changed to the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission on April 1. To make stakeholders aware of the name change as well as changes to the acts and its progress on objectives, the WCB implemented a communications strategy. The process of disseminating information has already started. Using existing and established mediums of communication — like the web site, the e-newsletter “Insight: A Look a Safety and Service” and Reflections, a semi-annual magazine — the WCB is committed to ensuring Northern workers and employers know how the WCB is changing and how the changes affect them.
Specific to the name change, the WCB will undertake an extensive media campaign during February and March. This includes notifying Northern and southern media outlets of the change through a media release, as well as placing a public notice in local and regional newspapers and announcing it on area radio and television stations.
The new Workers’ Compensation Acts, strengthened reporting system and communications strategy support and further the board’s mission to promote workplace safety and care for injured workers. They allow the board to better and more effectively serve the people of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I move that Member’s Statement 9-16(2), a statement by Minister Lafferty regarding Public Housing Rental Subsidy survey results and plans for the future, be moved to the Committee of the Whole.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Do we have a seconder for the motion? Mr. Krutko.
Motion carried; Minister’s Statement 9-16(2) referred to Committee of the Whole.
