By Randy Hillier
In the past few months in Ontario, we’ve seen the current provincial government rocked by scandal after scandal. The majority of these revolve around the so-called ABCs – Agencies, Boards, and Commissions. These arms-length organizations reach into every aspect of our lives. There are over 600 agencies, boards and commissions. They include the labour relations review board, and the construction safety association. They govern all aspects of our jobs, such as apprenticeship ratios. Of these agencies, none is worse than the WSIB.
The problems at the Workplace Safety Insurance Board go far beyond simple corruption and mismanagement. I hardly need to list the facts here for you. There is a complete lack of responsibility to stakeholders. The government has delegated legislative authority to the WSIB, a bureaucratic nightmare that defies imagination in its scale. They have allowed it a monopoly on workplace insurance in this province. It has a ballooning unfunded liability which has only grown over the years – currently, at about 12.5 billion, and getting larger by the day. It may increase to over 14 billion by year’s end. Clearly, the solution proposed by the government in Bill 119 – increasing mandatory coverage – will not fix the unfunded liability, and it may devastate our industry.
I say “our” because this is my industry as well as yours. I’m an electrician, and in my past life I was contractor. I’ve seen firsthand the amount of damage that the regulatory burden of red tape can do. I’ve also felt the pressures which you feel every day. Do we work legitimately or take cash jobs? Do we report workplace accidents, or take care of them personally? Do we dare turn the eye of government towards us, for fear of being crushed by its fist?
The regulatory red tape of this board has caused far more damage than the cost which can be measured in WSIB dues. There is also the never-ending pressure of knowing that the sword of the WSIB hangs over our heads. We never know when a faceless bureaucrat or computer program may decide to issue us backdated bills and reach retroactively into our wallets. The burden of proof in this is on us, as those being billed. There is no need for the WSIB to prove that the money is owed.
The time has come to stand up for change in this province. We can no longer abide a government that throws responsibility to unaccountable arms-length boards with no form of oversight. We can no longer abide by the WSIB’s claims to work in our interest while they expand mandatory coverage to fill the gaping hole in their unfunded liability. In this tough economic climate, we cannot abide the regulatory burden or the gross incompetence.
My answer to this problem is simple. If we have every worker covered not by the WSIB but by private insurance workers will receive the same amount of coverage at less cost, and will reduce the unfunded liability faced by this province. The competitive marketplace will ensure that insurance rates go down, not up. Make no mistake; we fully intend to continue reducing workplace accidents in this province. Government will still play a vital role in this process, but in its duty as enforcers of the law, not as a legislative profiteer.
There is a final, unseen cost to the WSIB. That cost is the unknown amount of investment lost every year because of the unfair regulatory burden placed on our industry. Business, investment, and economic development will go where their money is appreciated, not scorned. That’s why the WSIB must be reformed now – not just for us, but for all of Ontario.
At first WSIB was fair in treating me. Ofcourse, my injury was obvious, I was black and blue from falling down concrete stairs. They were full of sand from the parking lot, although my employer denies that. Why? I don’t know, I feel at work is all that matters, but I work for the government so management has a deny deny deny policy. I went into convulsions later that day. I have a seizure disorder that is aggrevated by my back. I have a history of other back injuries and scoliosis, this fall was just the icing on the cake. I was off for a year and a half, it took me that long to get wsib to get my physio…had to get my seizures under control first. After all that I bullied my doctor into letting me return to work and three months later my employer finally let me come back. They modified my duties as a corrections officer even though my doc said I didn’t need modification.
Well, the pain kept building and building. I was getting so run down and stressed out and started feeling like one day I would go in to work and literally drop dead from the pain and exhaustion. I was eating advil like candy. I had nasty heart burn, shooting pain in my back and head and my knees kept bucking on me.
I finally went to see a doc, after buckling over in front of inmates the day before…something no gaurd ever does is show weakness in front of an inmate but the pain The pain wasn’t going away this time and I think it took it’s tole on me emotionally and physically.
My employer still hasn’t sent in wsib papers, my doc filed them and wsib kept saying when did you fall. I didn’t fall again I just stood up and that was enough….don’t these people get that chronic pain, just turning your head can trigger severe muscle spasms that require demoral injections to relax the muscles. Mine get so bad it cuts off the blood supply to my head and makes my arm turn a funny colour….all from inflamed muscles!!!!
I guess my mistake was trying to be a good employee and going back to work and using my vacation days and stats everytime my back went out….
now I have to hire a lawyer and fight for my rights. Although I have to take this laying down (literally, can’t get out of bed some days) I won’t figuratively take it lay down. I have nothing better to do than fight for the rights of those with disabilities who deserve coverage (myself included).
A long time ago I worked for the appeals tribunal of WSIB and was disgusted to see people who could once walk and were now paralyzed being turned down….how do they rationalize that.
So I say to WSIB I am putting you on notice, I am going to make you play fair and make sure justice is served. If I have to sue the board as a whole for discrimination and harrassment under the human rights code than so be it. I will find every statute, law and regulation that applies.
All I want is physiotherapy. If I can return to work part time great. Don’t think my body can take full time work any more but I have a right to my dignity and to try and work and wsib has an obligation to cover the difference or retrain me in a suitable job at a similiar rate of pay…..
Going to see my lawyer tomorrow….I was hired to do my job for my sense of right and wrong and because I don’t back down….my body might be worn out but I still have my constitutions!
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Obviously we have alot of corruption with WSIB. More people and politicians need to speak out.
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YES WSIB is a nightmare.The way they are treating me is out of this world and they dont care what a surgeon says. CUPE should be ashamed of themselves for the way their members treat applicants with denied,denied, and denied.Someone has to TRULY start sticking up for injured workers.WSIB employees dont care because as long as they deny claims ,they have a job.Maybe injured workers should start by ignoring the pickets next time CUPE goes out.
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If a comp employee falls down the stairs and gets injured,I wonder how they would be treated, after all they would have intentional injured them selves
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Hello Randy,
I have quite a few points to make; at the same time I will do my best not to waste time or be redundant. I have researched so many things; some of them are handy and the rest, I have read, but I do not have the numbers down to the last detail. Most of these details can be looked up on Wikipedia.
I started to work for Ontario Hydro, on construction in 1967. Before we get on to my personal experiences, let’s have a look at that unbelievably corrupt organization, Hydro.
The current CEO at Hydro Quebec, Thierry Vandal, is making about $.5 million. That is proportional to all the other provinces except Ontario. BC’s CEO makes about $.4 million. Quebec Hydro is about the same size as Ontario’s electric system.
First Hydro One, as it is now called, that is only half of an electric system, the transmission part. FIGJAM, Mr. Tom Parkinson, was just one of a long list of criminals to be president of Hydro. The acronym, “FIGJAM”, was reported in all the papers; look it up. “Mr.” FIGJAM was paid $1.5 million. I could not find what his expense account was, but 10% of $1.5 million is $150,000. Apparently his expense account wasn’t enough regardless of the amount so he had to commit fraud for another $46,000. The “proletariat” would spend time in the gulag for doing that – but we are talking Hydro here – FIGJAM got another $3 million severance pay, (get this) after four years. (Do I hang with the wrong crowd??? I don’t know anyone that has gotten severance like that – even after 60 years.) That totals $9 million or $2.25 million per year.
Hey, we “ain’t” done yet. Ontario Power Generation’s, OPG’s, CEO, gets another $1.5. OPG generates only 70% of the power in this province. The CEO’s of The Independent Operator, example Bruce Power, make about $.8. (HAS YOUR ADDING MACHINE BLOWN UP YET?) The Power Authority!!!! I guess their job is to be “bureatical” – an’ we gotta pay those “beauriaticals” too, about $.7 million.
The figure that I got for all this was $5.25 million. Oh ya, that’s 10 1/2 times that of Thierry Vandal’s pay in Quebec. Oh, those dumb suckers that are paying “stranded debt”in Ontario!!!!!!!!!
Yes,”What am I complaining about with that ‘big Hydro pension’?”. In 43 years I worked about 20 at Hydro. Nepotism and Cronyism are institutionalized by that company. It, the lay-off, happened the first time in 1968. The union business manager listed the names of the people hired after me. Not one thing came of this.
I have taken many courses. I am to work on time, everyday and I do “more” than is required during the day. It’s a matter of self-respect. I have never been absent because of injury on any job in my life.
In 1998 I was stupid enough to spray Garlon 4 under tower lines to kill tree growth. In 1999 I had some material fall on my right hand. Both hands and my back swelled. My hands were measured for swelling while I was in therapy. I also had to have glasses four months after spraying that poison. I had to have cataracts removed. My back is currently full of arthritis. YES, I am in pain.
Hydro says Garlon 3A is bad for the eyes, but there is no mention of fish. Garlon 4 will kill fish, but there is no mention of the eyes. The “inactive” ingredient in both formulas, that takes up 40%, is kerosene – spray that on either fish or your eyes – if anyone should be so stupid!!!!! Hydro is still trying to get people in South Frontenac and Manitoulin to try a little of this. Some people have the guts to fight this.
From the site of the New York Attorney General was the report that Dow (you know Dow, makers of all that good “stuff”, Agent Orange, Agent Purple – and Garlon too.) came the report that they were fined $2 million for saying Garlon was 15 times safer than caffeine.
My doctor said, “Go home, you’re done.” Hydro said, ” No, we will put you on light duty.” Then they laid me off —–OF COURSE. I lost $125,000 in wages – that’s not even getting into all the other expenses.
There is no law in this province. The only thing that keeps me from suing them for a few million is this act.
I have 15 pounds of paper over 10 years and still it goes on.!!!!!!!! With no end in sight. I told the moderator at the tribunal that if I had the power I would put all white-collar criminals in the gulag. Didn’t say this, but, where there was a suicide due to depression there would be a hanging.
Randy, you do seem to be aware of what’s going on – now what is going to be done about it??? I wish you the best.
You have my permission to publish my e-mail; I want to contact anyone who will put out an effort to pull down WSIB.
Keith Rankin
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Dear Mr. Hillier
I was surprised at the least to see your view on the issues surrounding the WSIB and proud to see that someone in some form of authoritive power is doing something to make changes for the citizens on Ontario. I was injured back in 2003 while working for the County of Lanark, I was helping an elderly lady and prevented her from falling, needless to say I suffered an injury that would be permanent and causes chronic pain. I was granted full loss of earnings for a brief period only to be forced into a Labour market Re-Entry system which was not warrented for my recovery but only for me to “WORK AGAIN” and deemed to be competant and able to perform the job even though I did not complete my course but had it revoked. So my Loss of Earning was reduced to $4 a day and I was shafted out the door. I made several attempts to prove my condition, provided medical documents and professional opinions yet they were not even considered to be true according to the Board Doctor (who never saw me). I appealed every decision myself and lost every time. So here I sit anxiously awaiting a Tribunal to fight one last time for my rights. I am forced to retain council, aquire large amounts of financial burden which will follow me for life, and watch my quality of life slip away, while the WSIB waists time and money dragging their heels and fighting me every step of the way. They even have the right to deny medical coverage requested by doctors? They turn a blind eye and force people to give up. A stop must be made to their tactics, and their vindictive employees. I understand that there are people who mislead the board, however I am not them. To be honest with you, never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined that while working in a long term care facility, owned by the County, caring for elderly people, that if I got hurt in any way they would turn their back on me and allow for the abuse of the WSIB to settle the matter. I am in my 7th year of fighting, how many years will it take? How many years will I survive?
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Nancy T replies:
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Yes, we need to speak out, but how? I know signing a petition does not work as I have done this. There needs to be a plan put into place, a good one and then deliver it to Harper. That might not work either. I want to do something or start a fundraiser to get help in fighting this corrupted insurance company. Let me know if you are interested in banding people together and with all our heads we can come up with a plan that our government will listen to. This whole WSIB is very scarry, I have been fighting them for 14 years. I just got my neck accepted by them just before Christmas. It still is not over and now I will be going through my second LMR…what a joke! I asked my adjudicator if somehow the money you give the LMR gets circuited back into the WSIB. It costs over 150.000 dollars for a couple of months for the LMR program and it does not work. Why would the WSIB just not pay you off instead, or at least have that option. Something is not right with the way they run. I feel for you 7 years is a long time, keep fighting, I know I have been at the end of my rope several times, try to hang in there. Reply if you like.
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a civil law suit is a way i hope to go with the fraudulant wsib. Randy, Steven Mahoney of the wsib has a very unrealistic goal of eliminating all workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. He is not God, so how is he going to do this? These are not achievable goals. Who is paying his wages to come-up with such a lame goal. I am an injured worker who has not been paid all my entitlements and knowing this person is getting an extremely high wage to go all across the country to promote this zero accident…this makes me ill. Promote safty in a realistic way!
I guess if there are zero accidents, illness and fatalities, than wsib would not need to exsist.
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Yes WSIB right, I have worked for 22 years with only one day of in that hole time! But because a 26 year old boy that thay sent me to said it was all in my head they cut me off.I finaly had an MRI and it shows that he was wrong but they still wont help, my case worker said how dont we no that you din’t fall at home! I have been hurt lots of times at work and just kept working because that was the way I was raised to be a strong and proud Canadian. But I gues you have to cheet the system all your life to no how to get help! it should not be this way! My grandfather who trained my father and many men to fight for our Country is probibly looking down wondering what he fought for!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regards
Still injured with no HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hello Randy, The Meredith Principle has been twisted like a pretzel to deny injured and disabled workers their Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, employers are being sucked into paying outrageously high premiums for treatment that we workers never get, the cost of assessment alone was $2000.
The assessment team discarded my complaints like yesterdays trash, sentenced me to physiotherapy and when the physiotherapist had issue’s with my injury’s, workers comp just turned BLIND-EYE and just sent me back to work with 3 undiagnosed spinal injuries, and a shoulder injury.
I am completely disabled now and think about suicide every time my pain meds quit working as it has been 6 years now that I have been punted around the Canadian Medical Cue shuffled from one physician to the next, never getting any help.
I have no way to support my family and I was cutoff workers comp 1 yr ago. I’ve written to everyone involved, The Gestapo Leader Harper who won’t lift a hand to investigate the fraudulent claim administration, Neither will SS Gestapo Rob Nicholson who just sent me a letter he can’t get involved in my claim as Workers Comp is above the LAW set-up at arms length so NO ONE will investigate.
Human Rights just shuffled me out the door, just like OHS who doesn’t care that workers comp has been returning me to work driving a semi-truck on MORPHINE / OXYCONTIN / MUSCLE RELAXANTS;
I lost my class 1 license after the last return to work where I nearly ran over a car on the highway, when you can’t sleep due to severe pain and take pain meds to try to get some relief, your BRAIN doesn’t operate quite like it’s supposed to, it got pretty damn fuzzy and disorientated behind the wheel of a 140.000 lbs truck and trailers going 100 K’s an hour.
This year I found out that my physician had requested that I be expedited to a specialist for my only injury my right shoulder, he also requested and warned workers compensation that the medications he had prescribed would make my job unsafe.
Of course workers comp wouldn’t listen to my Doctor and sent me back to work without telling me, and I fell breaking my back and tailbone in several spots, ( of course none of my injury’s were diagnosed again due to the FRAUDULENT CORRUPTION at workers comp;)
Please get your fix for WORKERS COMPENSATION in high gear ASAP,before more injured workers are purposely crippled by all the CON-ARTIST CLAIMS ADJUDICATORS at WORKERS COMP who think they know more about injuries and medical care than physicians who are trained.
Here’s my Point;
DENIED CLAIMS = NO HEALTH RECOVERY
DENIED DIAGNOSTIC TESTS = NO HEALTH RECOVERY
DENIED OPERATIONS REQUESTED FOR WORK INJURIES = POVERTY / MISERY
RETURNED TO WORK UNDIAGNOSED = CRIPPLED – DISABLED-CHRONIC PAIN – This is the reason for hostage takings and mass shootings;
Workers Safety + Insurance Board should change their name too-
EMPLOYERS CON-ARTIST INSURANCE ORGANIZATION
and this should be their slogan;
We will purposely cripple you with denials for treatment, then when we have ruined your health and life, we will break you emotionally, financially,physically;
Then force you to a run-around of appeals were we have the right to be wrong, and well if you can borrow money to take us to court, we will hold you up forever and ever. Then and only then if you win in court, the judge will say it has to go back to workers comp to get everything straightened out. then you REPEAT ALL STEPS OVER AND OVER;
While $$$$$ from the injury fund is used for anything other than helping injured or disabled workers;
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paul H replies:
March 19th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
your work injury history mirrors my and no doubt many others
the crown corp is sucking the life out of anyone that has to deal with them
hopefully we will not see or hear mirror incidents that occured in Edmonton.
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Dear Randy: My story with WSIB is a nightmare that I still can’t wake up from, as it is still ongoing and is just a out right grab for money. They want my company to pay WSIB on a independant subcontractor (WSIB charge he is an employee) who has proved without a doubt that he is an independant contractor and not our employee. They also want us to pay WSIB premiums on the rental portion of equipment. And cover employees that do not log under the sky high logging premium rate.
We need to have the choice of private insurance.
I am presently appealing but of course owe to the WSIB
$ 40,000.00 plus interest after being audited.
My company can not get a WSIB clearance certificate because of this o/s amount which limits work.
The system is criminal
Deborah Madill
Madill Eqyipment Ltd.
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