FREDERICTON (GNB) – The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, in collaboration with WorkSafeNB, is sponsoring a three-year, multi-stage review of workers' compensation legislation.

“It has been more than two decades since there has been a comprehensive review of the legislation governing workers' compensation in New Brunswick,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Danny Soucy. “The objective of this review is to ensure that the system appropriately addresses the needs and realities of current and future workplaces, and strikes the right balance between adequate compensation for injured workers and employers' financial interests.”

The first stage of the review will include a discussion paper and stakeholder consultations, in both official languages, with a focus on the following components of the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission Act:

●    the calculation of benefits under section 38.11 (9);
●    the determination of the merits of introducing a dispute resolution mechanism relating to processes and procedures; and
●    the governance structure and mandate related to the Appeals Tribunal.

Members of the public are invited to share their comments online. Submissions will also be accepted by fax (506-453-2148) or by regular mail at: Legislative Review of Workers’ Compensation, P.O. Box 6000, 470 York St., Fredericton, E3B 1X6.

Brian Bruce, a former law professor at the University of New Brunswick, and Ellen Barry, a former deputy minister with the provincial government, will serve as panelists for the consultation phase. They will meet with stakeholders during September to collect feedback.

The panelists will submit the information they gather to Douglas Mah, an independent consultant from Alberta with extensive experience in workers' compensation legislation and reviews. Mah will prepare a report for late fall with recommendations on how to improve workers' compensation legislation as it relates to the first stage of the review.

“A healthy and valued workforce is vital to helping us grow our economy as we continue to rebuild New Brunswick together,” said Soucy. “As minister responsible for WorkSafeNB and its associated legislation, I encourage all New Brunswickers, including employers, injured workers and interested groups, who have a view to modernizing the legislation to submit their input.”

Brian Bruce

Following his legal education and employment in a legal and administrative capacity in the federal government, Bruce taught in the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick from 1976 to 2002. His teaching interests covered many different subjects but his concentration was in the area of labour and employment law, in particular, in the field of arbitration, mediation and conciliation. During his academic career, he served as the associate dean of law and dean of law. In addition to his teaching career, he has worked extensively in dispute resolution as an arbitrator, conciliator and mediator.

Ellen Barry

Barry formerly served as deputy minister in the departments of Human Resources, Tourism and Parks, and Wellness, Culture and Sport. Previous to this, she worked as an assistant deputy minister in the departments of Natural Resources and Finance. She has worked internationally leading projects in the health care sector in Mali, West Africa. She is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick.

Douglas Mah

Mah has 25 years of experience as a workers' compensation professional, preceded by 6 years as a litigator in a large firm. Since 1998 he has served as the secretary and general counsel of the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta. He is the author of three legal textbooks, including two in the field of workers' compensation. Over the years, he has been involved in a number of legislative reform projects pertaining to workers' compensation. He has been a Bencher and was recently President of the Law Society of Alberta. In 2004, he was awarded a Queen's Counsel designation.

LINK:

●    Online public consultation


06-08-13