Vaugeois: Injured workers need justice, not costly ad campaigns

THUNDER BAY – Following the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s controversial advertising campaign, NDP Shadow Minister for WSIB MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay – Superior North) released the following statement:

“WSIB is clearly aware it has a reputational problem, but this is not a communications failure. It is a deep and systemic failure. The compensation system is not a pool of money for businesses. It is a trust for injured workers and their families. Yet the Ford government boasts about returning billions to employers, money that should have supported people who were hurt at work and suffered real financial and personal loss. When roughly 70 per cent of WSIB decisions are overturned on appeal, that is not bad luck or simple error. It shows a system working against workers. Real accountability means independent, worker-centred governance and real reform, not political appointees and advertising campaigns.”

MPP Vaugeois recently tabled Bill 86, entitled The Meredith Act, that restores the WSIB to its original purpose to provide support for workers who are injured or made ill on the job for as long as the injury lasts in a non-adversarial system.

She will be discussing the bill this evening at an open community forum hosted by the Thunder Bay & District Injured Workers Support Group. Click here to learn more about MPP Vaugeois’ community forum.