04/30/94 ‘+ LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY RARE LAMENT BULLOING VICTORIA ~ BC vBYy CAN 1x4 SPORTS ompet ne f ree weeks early he Castlegar apes ‘The weekly newspaper with a daily commitment’ WEDNESDAY January 5, 1994 Vol. 4- No. 7 75 Cents + G.3.7. ICBC and WCB in conflict-of-interest says local lawyer SHARLENE IMHOFF ‘Syn Ector A Castlegar lawyer is charging that an economic and legal-conflict of interest exists between the Work- ers’ Compensation Board and ICBC. employee is that much greater. Under section 11 of the W Workers" Act, the WCB has exclusive During a press conference, held by Dalton on New Years Eve, Dalton explained that the conflict is essen- tially this: under section 33 of the ICBC Act, the gov- erament of B.C: guarantees the debts of ICBC. “In fact, both ICBC and WCB look to the ation “I was hoping that we could convince the ment to amend the proclamation date for Bill 63, or repeal the bill until everyone understands the full sig- nificance of it. But there has been a determination not to deal with it.” ‘ment for their fu liability. The g for both corp And things aren't sitting pretty for either corpora- tion. In November, an article in The Province stated that all ICBC reserves were gone. And Dalton claims Wat WCB is even worse off. Last November, Moe Sihota was quoted that the unfunded liability for WCB this year alone would be at least $250 million. SOme private individuals speculate that figure closer t@ $400 million. So how are the two corporations assisting each @ther out of their financial woes? If. after an injury, WCB decides that you are an employee. you could 23 Ber cent of — loss benefits and $240,000 sto save that money? . ne WS very Substantial” A good example of future problems Dalton says he has good reason to make seri- OS Conflict-ot-interest statements against ICBC and the Workers’ Compensation Board. Three years ago two nurses, who were mem- bers of the British Columbia Nurses Union, were elected by their union to negotiate on its members behalf, one tales Mhiat. were taking > ISS in Vaiico' Margery Siocon from.Prince George, and Elizabeth Chrusch, from Castlegar, had complet- ed the required negotiations and were en route to the airport when a large truck hit the taxicab in which they were riding. Both sustained serious injuries. The driver was not only completely negligent, he did not haye a valid drivers licence. Both. women felt they would simply make a usual ICBC claim, providing them with 100 per cent of wage loss, full cost of future care and most importantly, their full general “What they didn't realize is what all BCers_ don't realize. They thought their employer was the hospital they worked for, but in fact, the WCB looked at what happened very different- * ly,” said Dalton. This real-life scenario, said Dalton, represents ‘ the heart of the conflict matter i WCB “If the NDP truly does care about werkers, than I and ICBC. The. driver of the truck was an don’t see how they can bring employees into a situa- yee OF an ¢ d with WCB. tion that the former 85 per cent should not have been The driver of the cab was also an employee of involved in anyway.” an employer registered with WCB. Even though Dalton went on to say that when you make [00 per Haswood and Chrusch were simply passengers, cent of workers in B.C., emp! under ‘WCB, the chance that one employee will be involved in an accident and serve a claim against another eat i tte 5 eho 3. The connection continued Dalton. Under the gui of WCB, the emp! of an employer registered with WCB cannot claim dam- ages against another employee, whose employer is also registered with WCB. Under Section 11 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, which states “that when an employee in the ordinary course of their employ- ment injures another employee in the ordinary course of their work, their cause for action is entirely lost. The WCB takes mandatory jurisdiction over the injured employee.” Dalton has made both ions and the provin- cial government aware of the conflict of interest charges last November, but no action to change was met. In fact, under Bill 63, which was passed as legis- lation on New Year's Day, 18,000 new employers and 100,000 new employees have been included in the WCB system, representing the remaining 85 per cent ‘ of employees. SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putten Putting some distance between himself and the grouhd below, this snowboarder at the Whitewater Ski Resort uses a jump to work on his fine flying form. White- water will be hosting the First Annual Jib Bonk Snowboard Competition this upcoming Saturday. Pement tovvisit Castlegar Transportation and Highways Minister Jackie Pement will be visiting Castlegar on Thursday, See CLAIMS 8A Former college student found guilty on all charges Case dates back to August 1992, when Castlegar woman was unlawfully confined and sexually assaulted a iz Castlegar Robson | as looking at the condition of highways, acquaipting herself SHARLENE IMHOFF Off Act, was found guilty ty Judge Sun Editor A former Selkirk College student charged in relation to the break and enter, theft, unlawful confinement and sexual assault of a woman in Castlegar on August 27, 1992, has been found guilty on all * counts made against him by police. The young man, who cannot be named b he is p under the Young > Donald Sperry in Provincial court in Castlegar, December 31. A youth at the time the crime occurred, the former student, who is a citizen of Hong Kong, was found guilty of: count one, breaking and entering with an intent to commit an indictable offence; count two, sexual assault with a weapon; count three, unlawful confinement; count four, theft of a CIBC convenience card; count 5, uttering threats; count six, using the CIBC convenience card to withdraw cash and; count seven, having poses ssicn of stolen property. Because there were two individuals involved in the crimes against the young woman on August 27, 1992, one of whom fled the country sogn after his arrest, lawyer for the defence, Blair Suffredine said that all evidence brought before the court was circumstantial and that there was a lack of identification of the accused in matters relating to the crime, with the exception of the stolen bank card that was found in his wallet by police. In.previous court proceedings, the vic- tim testified that in the early morning hours of August 27, 1992, two males wear- ing balaclavas entered her bedroom, tocat- ed in the basement of the suite she was See @QUILTY ‘The response by Celgar Pulp Blessin, who describes the aploy to early has been over- wheiming, and therefore, is Menjdins OC north acon td geben ate tae three weeks will be minimal, said Human Resources Manager Al Biessin. “Our objective was.to reduce the 1994 budget manning numbers by 32, and 32 people have accepted retirement packages. We have met our Objectives.” ges as “tremendous” says the next step for the mill is to provide in-house Postings : for vacant positions. After the shuffling has taken place, Celgar officials will again assess the situation before deciding on the number of layoffs that will take place. Blessin could hot provide a firm well as it has.” Pulpmill response to early retirement offer ‘overwhelming’ number for potential layoffs, but he did say it would be “‘in the single digits.” “Tt will be at least two weeks before we know for sure. Instead of laying off in ‘the thirties, we're looking at a minimal amount. and these people could very well be recalled in early spring. The chances of them coming back look very good Blessin admits that when rumblings of layoffs were circulating initially, there was a lot of concem, especially by junior employees. had met our objective, the feeling around the mill is much better now than it was a month ago. There's a relief by a fot of junior people that the package has gone over as “I know that : r announcing that we 4 ed y | r all the local news and sports — the Castlegar Sun