Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A7 winnipegfreepress. com MANITOBA WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 A 7 630 Kernaghan Ave, Door 79 | 204.988.0800 ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO EXCHANGES OR REFUNDS W E D N E S D A Y T O F R I D A Y N O O N .. 8 P M | S AT U R D A Y 9 : 3 0 .. 5 P M Furniture Factory Outlet JANUARY CLEARANCE SALE ne w st o ck j u s t in 665 Stafford St. ( at Pembina Hwy.) Stafford Square Mall ( Behind Price Choppers) 204- 453- 6473 BEST PRICE GUARANTEE!!! HUGE SELECTION OFWALKERS from $ 185 E ION KERS 85 O O TTAWA - The amount of money Manitoba will have to spend on natural disasters before the federal government will come to the table will almost triple next week when Ottawa changes the formula for the first time in more than four decades. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney announced the changes earlier this month, as he promised also to roll out the promised $ 200- million, five- year flood- mitigation program promised in last year's federal budget. " To strengthen Canada's emergency- management approach, we are shifting from a reactive model to one that allows us to better identify, plan for, and prevent flood risks and the costs for Canadians that comes with them," Blaney said in a Jan. 16 news release. However, as part of the program, he is also changing the formula for disaster financial assistance that has the federal government help provinces pay for major disasters. Since 1971, Ottawa's assistance has kicked in when the cost of a disaster reaches the equivalent of $ 1 per person in a province. In Manitoba, currently, that would be $ 1.272 million. As of Feb. 1, the formula is going to be set at $ 2.92 per person, which Blaney says is equivalent to half the impact of inflation since 1971. In Manitoba, it means the province will have to cover 100 per cent of the costs of disasters up to $ 3.71 million. After that, Ottawa's share will be up to 90 per cent. Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton said Tuesday the government is once again off- loading costs onto the provinces. " This will have a huge impact in Manitoba," said Ashton. " In the last five years, we have had three major floods, as well as other disasters. Under the new rules, the current government is upping the threshold, leaving municipalities and the province with no relief." Blaney initially responded by talking about an agreement between Ottawa and the province to address disaster assistance on First Nations. After Nova Scotia MP Robert Chisholm followed Ashton's question with one of his own, Blaney addressed the overall problem. " Let us be clear," Blaney said. " This program was not updated, nor indexed, for decades. We took half the indexation. The provinces are still a part of the program. We will continue to support the provinces and the communities whenever it is needed in this country, and we will face the challenge." A spokesman for Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said this issue will be raised Friday, when the premiers meet in Ottawa. mia. rabson@ freepress. mb. ca NDP leadership candidate Theresa Oswald said a government she leads would teach injury prevention in school, hire more workplace health and safety inspectors and ensure an independent review is carried out into every workplace death. At a news conference Tuesday at the Union Centre on Broadway, Oswald said she would also like to see a higher percentage of workers covered by workers compensation in Manitoba. At about 75 per cent, Manitoba trails other western provinces and ranks third- last in Canada, she said. The government has taken " terrific strides" to help make workplaces safer but more must be done, Oswald said. In 2013, there were more than 30,000 reported workplace injuries and 34 deaths. " This is unacceptable," the former jobs and the economy minister said. Oswald said she's also prepared to change a Workers Compensation Board rate provision that rewards employers with fewer injury claims. She said this has led some employers to illegally suppress injured workers' claims to keep their rates down instead of establishing proven injury- prevention strategies. Oswald said she would hire five new workplace health and safety inspectors over the next two years to focus on high- risk sectors such as health care, while expanding the use of enforcement blitzes that target specific sectors. She said workplace safety and injury prevention should be part of the school curriculum and she would ensure the Safe Workers of Tomorrow program is sufficiently funded. She said mandatory independent reviews of workplace deaths should be done in a timely fashion and focus on prevention so changes can be made to avoid similar incidents in the future. Rob Hilliard, a former president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, said he was happy to endorse Oswald's ideas. " Kids coming out of high school are a very high- risk group for injury in the workplace," he said. " This is a targeted area that needs attention." Hilliard, who handles WCB appeals for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, also said he knows of hundreds of instances where employers have attempted to suppress compensation board claims. Oswald said the government recently introduced tougher penalties for employers who try to prevent workers from filing WCB claims. A stakeholder group is also reviewing the WCB rate model. larry. kusch@ freepress. mb. ca Disaster costs to triple after formula change By Mia Rabson Oswald turns attention to workplace safety By Larry Kusch Enough to frost your ski poles A cross- country skier follows a trail alongside trees covered in hoarfrost in Assiniboine Park Tuesday morning. 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