WSIB Chair's Consultation Report

The Chair's Consultation Report was released recently. The report suggests that cost containment measures (i.e. benefit cutbacks) are necessary because of the Board's poor economic situation. What the report does not say is that the Board's poor economic situation is due to historically low employer assessments and WSIB investment losses in recent years. In essence, Ontario employers benefited during the good times from WSIB investment practices (with lower assessments than what would otherwise have been required to fund the system thanks to high investment returns) and now seek to avoid responsibility in the bad times by pleading poverty. Like Wall Street bankers, it does not look good on them.