Submitted by Willy Noiles
The Niagara Injured Workers Centre will host a public hearing June 18 as part of a series of province-wide hearings based on the 100th anniversary of the tabling of Sir William Meredith’s report on workmen’s compensation.
Organizers of Meredith 100 will be holding hearings over the next few months to find out how the workers’ compensation system is working, with Niagara as the first stop.
In October 1913, Meredith published his final report in which he outlined the fundamental principles he believed should form a fair and just workmen’s compensation system. Meredith outlined six principles, which have become known as Meredith’s Principles—no fault, non-adversarial, compensation for as long as the disability lasts, employer pays, collective liability and an independent public agency.
McMaster University’s Labour Studies Professor Robert Storey will be traveling across Ontario to learn how changes made to the workers’ compensation system over the last 20 years have altered Meredith’s principles.
“Injured workers have opposed many of these changes contending that they violate both the content and spirit of the original Meredith Principles. In response, ‘Meredith’ is returning,” Storey said. “We want to hear how people have been affected by these changes.”
Storey and the organizing committee behind Meredith100 are particularly interested in hearing about the following: (1) whether the present workers’ compensation system is ‘no fault’; (2) how well the present system serves injured workers and if there are problems and obstacles with claims and appeals; (3) if compensation is available to injured workers for the duration of their injury; (4) if employers are paying the full costs associated with workplace injuries and diseases; (5) whether the collective liability system is working and individual employers are protected from the financial impact of individual claims; and (6) whether the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is an independent organization.
Sir William Meredith
Jennifer Pothier, Executive Director, Niagara North Community Legal Assistance (NNCLA), and one of the organizers of Meredith100, said she expects injured workers will welcome the chance to express their views on WSIB. “In the cases we’ve worked on at Niagara North and the personal stories we’ve heard at the Injured Workers Centre, it’s evident many of the changes made to workers’ compensation have not benefited workers, their families or the province as a whole,” Pothier said. “These hearings provide injured workers and their families the opportunity to have their say.”
In addition to Meredith100’s public hearing in St. Catharines—to be held at Start Me Up Niagara, 17 Gale Crescent at 6:30 p.m.—Storey will be making stops in other cities including Hamilton, Toronto, London and Thunder Bay. A report will be presented at an international conference being held at Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Oct. 31-Nov. 2 as well as to Ontario Labour Minister Yassir Naqvi.
“I’m looking forward to hearing what injured workers and others directly affected by the workers’ compensation system in Niagara and across the province have experienced and if they have any recommended changes,” Storey said.
The Niagara Injured Workers Centre is a partnership between NNCLA and SMUN and is funded through Niagara Region’s Niagara Prosperity Initiative.
For further information, please contact:
Robert Storey, Ph.D. Jennifer Pothier
McMaster University, Executive Director,
School of Labour Studies Niagara North Community Legal Assistance
storeyr@mcmaster.ca j_pothier@lao.on.ca
Willy Noiles is a native of Niagara and a freelance journalist in the region.
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