WCB asks to cover fisheries and agriculture

A committee of the Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. has released a report making 69 recommendations, including that farming and fishing operations should fall under the program.

'We don't want to surely put them out of business.' — Nancy Guptill, WCB

The report is part of a regular review of the WCB conducted every five years.

Board chair Nancy Guptill told CBC News Tuesday that farming and fishing are included under workers compensation in most other provinces, but noted many farmers and fishermen are facing difficult times right now, and the board doesn't want to make things more difficult.

Farmers and fishermen will be consulted about how the change might affect them.

"I would think, of course, workers would want to be included," said Guptill.

"But we want to make sure that what we have for a program would be affordable for the fishers and for the agriculture community. We don't want to surely put them out of business. So it's a matter of consulting and being able to come down with some reasonable effort as to why we should or should not include them."

Other recommendations in the report include eliminating the three-day waiting period required before an injured worker can apply for compensation.

Acting on the recommendations will be a decision made by the provincial government.