The NWT government says it will work to introduce better protections for first responders, after a bill that would have expanded some such protections died when the government objected on procedural grounds.
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart had been advancing a private member’s bill that sought to broaden presumptive cancer and heart disease coverage for firefighters, while extending presumptive coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder to a range of first responders, including paramedics, nurses, sheriffs and correctional officers.
Presumptive coverage means a diagnosis is presumed to be work-related, removing the need for an employee to prove a connection between their job and their illness.
Testart’s bill, Bill 29, cleared committee review in late February but government House leader Jay Macdonald asked Speaker of the House Shane Thompson to decide whether the bill broke legislature rules.
Private members’ bills cannot appropriate public funds. Bill 29 would trigger an estimated $4.3-million one-time liability payment, plus an additional $409,000 to the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission in increased annual rates, the territorial government argued.
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Thompson ruled in Macdonald’s favour on Friday last week, finding in a lengthy ruling that while Bill 29 did not contain a specific clause appropriating money, it created a “new and distinct financial obligation” for the territory.
In a written statement following that decision, the GNWT said the WSCC had already been directed to “develop options to strengthen” cancer coverage for firefighters and supports for psychological injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The territory said that work started some time ago but was paused after Testart introduced Bill 29. Why the work had to be paused was not made clear.
“That work is now resuming and will inform potential legislative options, with the goal of bringing forward legislation this year,” a cabinet communications spokesperson stated.
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‘First responders will have to wait’
Testart said he was “disappointed” by the speaker’s ruling and questioned why Macdonald had not spoken up earlier if there was a concern about the way his bill functioned.
Thompson, too, suggested there had been other opportunities to raise concern prior to late February.
He also chastised unnamed MLAs for public statements they made over the week-long period while he was reaching his decision. (Testart, for one, had commented online about it.)
In a Facebook post last Friday, Testart said the decision meant “first responders will have to wait, again, for the presumptive insurance coverage enjoyed in the rest of Canada.”
Testart called on cabinet, and specifically communities minister Vince McKay, to “keep his promises to first responders [and] provide all the coverage promised by Bill 29 with a clear timeline for implementation.”
