July 26, 2005

Workers’ compensation rates hiked 3 per cent

Labour lauds the move, business berates board

TORONTO

Ontario employers will soon have to pay more to compensate injured workers, a move criticized by the province’s business community as a “slap in the face” that could harm the economy.

Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has hiked worker compensation rates for 2006 by three per cent over this year’s rates. The board said the increase is necessary because of a lack of money to pay for the province’s compensation claims.

“We must take action now,” board president Jill Hutcheon said in a release. “It would be inappropriate to allow this debt to be passed on to future generations of employers.”

The board said the hike comes after extensive interviews with Ontario workers and labour unions.

“Their comments are what led to this decision,” said spokesman Devin Munro.

The move was welcomed by Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“I think it’s completely reasonable to increase the rates by what is a modest amount of three per cent,” he said. “I don’t think people should get too excited about the employers complaining. They’ve been complaining for as long as the system’s been around.”

But groups representing Ontario businesses described the board’s decision as a major blow to the economy, with one group estimating the hike could mean up to a $2-billion loss over the next seven years.

“This will definitely limit our potential for job creation and our ability to bring new businesses into the province,” said Brad Dugard, a spokesman for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the increase would be particularly detrimental to the province’s small businesses, and predicted it could spell the end of many aspiring entrepreneurs.

“Fledgling new businesses will find themselves having to pay this tax before they are making a penny of profit,” said federation vice-president Judith Andrew.

“It’s a shame because our sector is really one that fuels the economy and propels job creation.”

Samuelson scoffed at those claims.

“These people that spend their time making up these numbers and trying to create all this fear out there, they should spend more time making sure their workplaces are safe.”

The premium hike is especially discouraging to Ontario employers because of their increased efforts to reduce accidents in the workplace during the past few years, Andrew said.

“It’s not only a slap in the face, it’s the worst possible time for the WSIB to be thinking about increasing premiums,” she said.

Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory blamed the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty for the hike.

“This is another blow to taxpayers,” Tory said in a release. “The McGuinty Liberals don’t seem to understand that increases to payroll taxes put a strain on the Ontario economy.”

This is the second time rates have gone up in the province in the past 10 years.

Andrew said the board’s decision is “pretty much etched in stone,” but said her organization plans to protest it until everything is finalized.

“This is just such a wrong-headed move that we are going to have to keep fighting it,” she said.

Canadian Press

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