The NWT minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, or WSCC, has proposed legislation to broaden presumptive coverage for firefighters and other first responders.
Vince McKay introduced Bill 48 in the Legislative Assembly on Friday. It proposes changes to the NWT’s Workers’ Compensation Act to expand presumptive cancer and heart-related coverage for firefighters as well as presumptive post-traumatic stress disorder coverage for emergency responders.
Presumptive coverage means a diagnosis is presumed to be work related rather than requiring an employee to prove the connection between their job and illness or injury, simplifying the claims process.
“This legislation is an important step toward stronger, clearer and more modern protections for firefighters and first responders in the Northwest Territories,” McKay stated in a news release, noting he worked for the Hay River Fire Department.
“It is also one more way we can show the people who protect our communities that their service is valued, their health matters, and their government is committed to getting this right.”
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McKay said, if passed, the legislation would expand presumptive coverage for firefighters from 14 to 27 cancers and include more heart-related conditions including heart disease. He added that it would broaden the definition of firefighter to include workers involved in fire inspections and investigations.
McKay said the bill would also introduce presumptive PTSD coverage for continuing care assistants, correctional officers, sheriffs, emergency-response dispatchers, firefighters, nurses, paramedics, police officers, and members of search and rescue organizations.
“When a worker is diagnosed with a serious illness or injury connected to this work, they should be able to focus on their health, recovery and family, not on unnecessary barriers to accessing support,” he stated.
McKay said introduction of the bill fulfills a promise he made after Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart’s Bill 29 – which proposed widening presumptive coverage for first responders – failed to pass in March. The bill died as private member’s bills cannot appropriate public funds.
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At the time, the NWT government said WSCC was previously working on options to strengthen cancer coverage for firefighters and supports for psychological injuries but that work was paused after Testart introduced his bill.
After the private member’s bill died, the territory said that work was resuming with the goal of bringing forward legislation this year.
McKay said in Friday’s news release that he “supported the principle behind” Testart’s bill and that Bill 48 builds on WSCC’s work as well as the review of Bill 29.
“Legislation of this kind needs to be comprehensive, legally sound, financially sustainable and built to work within the Northwest Territories’ workers’ compensation system,” he stated.
A bill needs to pass three readings in the legislature before it can become law.
McKay said he looked forward to hearing from first responders and their families, MLAs and residents about his proposed legislation as it moves through the assembly.
