Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today because I wanted to talk about a conflict. Whether it’s perceived or real shouldn’t be so much the issue. It’s the matter that it’s thought there might be a problem. A constituent has brought to me a complaint where they believe, quite strongly, that there is a perceived bias within the WSCC process. In this case my constituent has informed me that, when they were working through the process, they used to approach this person when they were the claims advisor. But in the way process changes here, this person has now become the adjudicator. When their file went from we’re here to support you, now they’re ruling against them.
I know good people are at the helm here and it’s not a question of was the right type of decision done ethically, and I don’t view that being the problem. I think it’s more a situation where we’ve allowed ourselves to overlook the possibility of bias, in the context of conflict only, whether again it’s perceived or real.
The act is clear when it comes to staff or workers of the WSCC, and members of the staff and the Appeals Tribunal, are not eligible to be a worker’s advisor. It doesn’t apply the other way around when you work up through the system, because it appears to be silent whether this particular case could be seen in that regard. This is, again, about a perceived conflict and bias and the importance of a fresh, clear and fair type of decision.
We may have ended up with the same result if someone else had heard the case but, quite frankly, we will never know. I’ll tell you why. Because this constituent approached, as I talked to them and the advice I gave them, they had approached the Governance Council for some strategic advice on how to deal with this perceived or real conflict. The Governance Council replied that they felt the decision by the Appeals Tribunal did not improperly or unreasonably apply because of policy or legislation. What’s funny about this situation and how I characterize it is simply because there is no policy on this particular problem.
I will be asking the Minister of WSCC how we will be dealing with this perceived or real type of conflict. All people are asking for is a fair hearing to ensure there was no bias or challenge based on the fact that one time they were in favour of it but now they’re in a deciding role and are now against it. People are only asking for fairness and I think that’s the least we could offer them.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
