Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The WCB is aware of what the ruling is in the Martin case; it is quite aware of the ruling from Justice Schuler; and they will be working to ensure that the policy that they bring in is one that fits within the Constitution of Canada. But they are also hoping to work with stakeholders, injured workers and employers to make sure that the policy reflects not only that constitutional requirement, but what northern workers and employers are expecting to see from the WCB.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006, I will move that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Education Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll talk to the chair of the Governance Council and see how quickly this can be done. With the Governance Council meeting only between four and six times a year, I can't guarantee that the Governance Council will necessarily have it within the next month. They can't always schedule their meetings that quickly. But, Mr. Speaker, I am confident that they will move very quickly to deal with this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current pain policy that the WCB has in replace recognizes chronic pain as a convincible injury and that compensation may last for as long as the chronic pain lasts, which could be a lifetime for some people if that's the way it was. One of the things the WCB is going to take a look at, though, is specifically whether or not a permanent partial disability should be one of the things that's listed as possible. The current policy, 03.10, does not specifically list permanent partial disability, even though in effect it can be granted to somebody who has that long...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point we're not planning any changes for this winter's season. There may be changes that would be proposed as part of the income security review.

Just to let Members know that although we had a budget figure of $525,000 in last year's budget, actually expenditures for the program were over $1.1 million. We deliver the program no matter what the budget is, to make sure that the seniors are getting the same amount of fuel each year, no matter what it costs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Reflections Magazine, Summer 2006. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, this government does respect and honour its elders. We don’t charge rent for seniors in social housing. We have increased, in this year's budget, the pension amount that we provide to seniors. We do provide a heating subsidy to seniors who are in need and our income support, as a means of last resort for seniors who need help. So, Mr. Speaker, I will continue to look at the program and see what we can do, but I don’t want to give the Members false hope that I have a lot of room to move. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whether or not all of our seniors’ programs should be universal or whether or not they should be income tested is part of the process that we’re going through as we review our income security programs. I intend to discuss that sort of approach with the Standing Committee on Social Programs and Members of this Legislative Assembly as we come up with program design. The important thing to keep in mind will, of course, be the cost. We’re going to have to take a look at what we can do for program change with an existing cost and what we might be able to do if we’re able to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're aware that there were 23 this year who applied after the deadline and the current regulation doesn't allow any consideration past that deadline, but the new regulation will allow it and as long as the regulation gets changed before the end of this semester, a person will be able to apply for consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that previous Ministers were bombarded by Members when their constituents didn't get their SFA on time for the start of school, and so the deadline was imposed in order to make sure that SFA could be delivered before school started if people applied before that. But I'm not sure; this was something that was imposed some time ago and I can't speak for why the rule might have come into play. But I can advise the Member that I have given direction that the regulations for the deadline be changed.