Another in the Ontario workers’ compensation series.
For the introduction to the series, see Post #1 in this series below
Apparently, it is not only Ontario that is fixing its workers’ compensation system’s financial shortcomings through the adoption of a cost-averse bias in the adjudication of benefits.
Charles Murray, New Brunswick’s Ombudsman, testifying before a Legislative Committee on October 12, 2015:
“I think what has happened at [New Brunswick’s workers compensation Board – WorkSafeNB] is that over time the goal has become to protect the fund, to maintain low premiums and that has caused [the Board] to lose the focus on full protection for workers,”
…. “The evidence that we see is a consistent pattern in WorkSafe which results in denial of coverage for workers where we think a very reasonable case could be made that those workers should receive benefits or extension of time for rehabilitation,”
In short, here’s an idea: fix the fund by emasculating the benefits.
Here’s another: Where is Ontario’s Ombudsman’s Office on this?
We might remember the Ontario Ombudsman’s exhaustive and devastating report in 2007 on Ontario’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. See a full account in Unjust by Design, pages 111 to 113.