New WSIB bill is a job-killer

I have been receiving emails of late from local businesses asking me to speak out against Bill 119 – the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act.

This draft legislation indicates government is out-of-touch with the needs of small businesses in Ontario. It will force individual owners to pay, on average, $11,000 in extra fees for government workplace insurance.

Further, office workers and company directors – whose biggest occupational hazard may be a paper cut -- will pay for the same coverage as ironworkers and heavy equipment operators. Even people who already have workplace insurance – often at cheaper rates with better coverage – would be forced to pay these extra premiums.

This bill also robs businesses of freedom of choice, and it may rob people of better protection. Most private insurance offers coverage 24/7, 365 days a year. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) not only offers less coverage but is also more expensive.

At the end of the day, Bill 119 is essentially another dramatic tax hike on small business and those in the construction trades. If this tax grab is passed, many of these businesses could be forced to lay off employees or close their doors for good. As for consumers, it will mean even less choice and higher prices when it comes to getting something built.

Why would this government find it necessary to add insult to injury, in the midst of an economic crisis, by slapping business already struggling with added costs and more red tape? Haldimand-Norfolk businesses can’t afford to pay an extra $11,000 right now.

There are few options for businesses threatened by Bill 119 – they can either close up shop or flee to the underground economy. Both are bad news locally and provincially.

It is this unthinking and unblinking attitude we see all too often at Queen’s Park that is driving jobs out of our province.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) – representing over 40,000 small businesses in Ontario -- has called the legislation “misguided” and a “betrayal of small and medium-sized business”. The McGuinty government didn’t consult the CFIB before introducing this legislation.

It appears the government doesn’t understand the reality of doing business here in Ontario. If it did, it would be working with and listening to the concerns of small business owners rather than ramming harmful legislation through the Legislature.

During debate in the Legislature, I read an email from a large manufacturer up Princeton/Burford way: “This is a terribly flawed piece of legislation. Small business owners all over the country, but in Ontario in particular, are being hammered by all kinds of additional expense and we absolutely cannot afford to be mandated another cost such as this. There must be hearings held to bring some common sense to the process.”

And this bill does nothing to improve workplace safety or eliminate the underground economy. The WSIB already has the tools they need to crack down on the underground economy, and we would encourage them to do so.

This terrible piece of legislation indicates the McGuinty government is out-of-touch with Ontario’s small businesses. Queen’s Park should be nurturing a business environment that keeps businesses here and attracts new ones. Instead, this government is chasing what we have away. Today, it’s small business and the construction industry; tomorrow it could manufacturing and retail.