Worksafe BC Denies Claimants Due Process Part 5 No Oversight
Channel: WCBs are failing Injured Workers
Date: 2015-01-31

Twitter Worksafe BC issues @Worksafe_BC
Blog Worksafe Experience Blog http://sios.ca/worksafe/worksafe.xml
WorksafeBC has no oversight.
Crown Corporations such as ICBC, and BCHydro and “near: Crown Corporations like BCFerries are set up to put a distance between the politicians and and the crown corporation.  To have a level of oversight, some form of oversight committee is established for example BCFerries has the Ferry Commission; even with this arrangement the corporations are not immune from political interference.  Some of the interference is by legislation such as the BCGovernment legislating the BCHydro oversight committee the BC Utilities Commission were not not look at a number of contentious BCHydro issues or another time when the minister responsible ordered the BCUC to not approve a rate increase – just before an election.  WorksafeBC appears to be unique from oversight.  The enabling legislation the Workers Compensation Act gives the Workers Compensation Board sole jurisdiction over WorksafeBC – ever specifically excluding the normal court system from the process,  WorksafBC has no oversight outside of their own internal oversight, that is no oversight.

One would expect a provincial government organisation like WorksafeBC would have a body responsible for oversight of them.  One would think such a body exists and in theory that function is done by the legislature through the minister of labour the Honourable Shirley Bond but the mister of labour and her office along with all MLA's maintain a strict hands off no political interference policy.
Except  when it is politically expedient to not do so.  The tragic sawmill fires near Prince George in 2012 which resulted in 4 deaths and 41 injuries certainly did require an investigation into the bungling of the investigation and no criminal charges being laid and Minister Bond ordered an investigation to be conducted in short order when the facts of the mess became known.  One can not believe it is only a coincidence that the mill fires directly affected her riding - one of the Prince George Area ridings.