NEWS BRIEFS MANITOBA $30 million Shoal Lake reserve “Freedom Road” to end a century’s isolation Canada’s new indigenous affairs minister says the isolated Shoal Lake 40 reserve will finally receive a $30 mil- lion all weather road, after almost a century of isolation and boil water con- ditions. Carolyn Bennett says the federal government is committed to linking the reserve on the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, cut off a century ago to build a freshwater aqueduct to Win- nipeg. Surveyors said at the time that the land was largely uninhabited “with the exception of a few Indians.” While clean water continues to flow to the Manitoba capital, the reserve of several hundred people has been under a boil water advisory for 18 years, published reports say. The Lib- eral government is committed to end- ing that injustice, Bennett said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “This is a serious commitment and it will happen,” she said. “So many of these issues are no longer indigenous issues. These are Canadian issues about our values and principles and how we can go forward in a good way.” In the summer, the First Nation de- pends on an aging ferry to get to the mainland, but the vessel failed govern- ment inspection last year. Residents use a treacherous ice road in the win- ter and people have died falling CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA through the ice. The Manitoba government has al- ready introduced a legislative bill to give it legal authority to help fund con- struction of a permanent road. ONTARIO WSIB premiums to stay flat in 2016 despite enhanced construction industry safety record The news that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) plans to maintain employer premiums for 2016 at current levels may seem to be good, until you look at the numbers and discover that claim rates have de- clined significantly and the WSIB is using the saved funds to reduce its un- funded liability (UFL), says David Frame, the Ontario General Contrac- tors Association’s (OGCA) director of government relations. “My members are concerned that the WSIB rates are among, if not the highest, in Canada,” he said. “As well, they aren’t responsive to good return to work outcomes, good performance, good health and good safety.” The WSIB said in its economic statement released in November that it anticipates average rate reductions of between 10 and 15 per cent are possible over a five-year period start- ing in 2017, but these won’t happen this year. “In recent years, the WSIB has made great strides toward becoming more financially sustainable, transpar- ent, responsive and accountable to the merk@merx.com 26 – January 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report www.merx.com people we serve,” WSIB chair Eliza- beth Witmer said in a news release. “As a result, we now expect to elimi- nate the unfunded liability, or UFL by 2022 - five years ahead of the schedule required by law.” “Fundamental changes to the WSIB’s business have brought the UFL down by nearly half, from a high of $14.1 billion in 2011 to $7.5 billion in early 2015 – all while maintaining benefit levels for injured workers and achieving the best safety and health outcomes in Canada,” she said. These changes include: safer workplaces; in- novation in medical care and helping workers return to work; rising pre- mium revenue and a strong growth in the investment fund through the addi- tion of operating surpluses, careful management and diversification. “Once the burden of the UFL is gone, employer premiums will consist only of new claims and administrative costs,” Witmer said. “That’s an esti- mated average premium rate of $1.40 to $1.50 instead of the current average of $2.46 per $100 of payroll, making Ontario one of the lowest cost jurisdic- tions in Canada.” (Witmer’s rates refer to the overall WSIB premium level – rates for con- struction trades are significantly higher, such as $12.70 for masonry, $18.31 for formwork and $14.80 for roofing.) In part because the construction sector’s rates are higher, the additional premium revenue collected from busi- nesses which are operating safely con- www.merx.com/events