Brent McGillis: Nov 7, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Why does Canadian Law Discriminate Against Injured Workers

During this trip down the road of legal redemption I have ran across a whole cross section of interesting humans. A good deal of injured workers some active, some just fed up fighting a system that is so heavily stacked in favor against them. It truly is a daunting beast to go up against. It has been said that a man that has been stripped of everything, is the most dangerous man in the world. Because in his mind he simply does not have anything to loose. It struck me yesterday in one of my trips down the road of discovery that every single side road that the WCB sends you down ends up being a dead end. When every single avenue of legal and administrative, medical road you turn down ends up a dead end it tears at the very fabric that you once thought was a working part of our society. I used to dream that if I where ever to get a IME, that it would be conducted properly. Video Link example.

The AMA Guidelines to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Vol. 4, pp3/98, indicates that a loss of vertebral motion segment integrity is a 20 percent impairment, without positive exam findings. The guidelines also indicate that pain with a loss of function is reason for impairment (Chapter 15).
This is a LIVE Link to a Spine Simulator, helps in your understanding of the complexities of a spinal Injury. I hope this emphasizes how critical these medical decisions are, they cannot be left to drop out flunkies (claims managers).
After so many friends, and other injured workers I have met revealed that they where completely screwed over by the bogus WCB IME exams and ended up with nothing or on welfare for life, I don't live that dream anymore. I was on the misguided belief that once that was conducted, then I would at least have a ELP and a NELP pension to live on. I had dreamed that then if there was any money whatsoever from a genuine IME, and not some play acting charade conducted by a felonious hired doctor with malicious intent, that I could apply those monies to going to the Mayo Clinic to have my injuries treated. I now know that that dream will NEVER happen. Across the board government corruption is spilled across our airwaves every day, and every day nothing is done about it. Firing flunkies, and not the man in charge of flunkies is not dealing with corruption. Not showing true transparency and not revealing the true flaws in the system and working on correcting those corrupt mechanisms, does not show true leadership.
Keep in mind, I walk through multiple mine fields the two most dangerous of which are the WCB Alberta minefield, and the AHS minefield. You could die waiting for treatment from either of these agencies, because they are both trying to fix you for under ten bucks.
Then creating even more secretive mechanisms, amendments to (FOIP) to hide cronyism, corruption and bungling is not the "Spirit to Achieve". That is giving corrupt bureaucracies even more powerful tools and mechanisms to DECEIVE, that is not an achievement in my books. I originally thought that some sort of political solution could be arrived at in my situation. I now know that is another dead end. The politicians in charge are too busy with their own greed agenda, and creating even more bureaucracy and more layers of insulation to cover up their bungling, and ineptitude. This party can't be called the Tory party anymore, it has become the GORY party. Because everything they touch becomes a horribly messy Gory Hackjob, complete with Hackmen, Hatchetmen, and of course the obligatory Bagmen. Why do we not have a Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. So a political solution to my situation is now 100% impossible with these bunglers in charge.
Digging in the Crony pot of moron candidates to run our most critical systems in our society is not paving the road of the future. JFK did not get living breathing men to the moon with cronyism. Remember what happened with George Bush and Katrina? A society built on making sure only your contractor buddies have any involvement in achieving solutions to the problems of the day, is not a progressive society. Hardly leading edge policies. The road forward to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex society is rooted in leadership that can envelop all people. All persons, regardless of ethnicity, political stripe, gender or how big their brown paper bag contributions are. This is not Baghdad, and we do not want a Halliburton and Blackwater mercenary style right wing society. Creating a society with a increasingly divided, agitated population and large parts of that society feeling alienated and discriminated against is not progressive. Openly mocking, bullying and smugly trashing your political opponents because they want real answers to real time crisis', is not indicative of leadership in any arena. I was stunned when I heard Hector Goudreau say there was no need for a overhaul of the WCB Alberta. How can these elected officials stand up and say they represent our citizens? We don't all dream of having a Upgrader built in our back yard, I'm not mentioning any names here. The worlds most powerful economy is shifting gears on how it produces and consumes energy, it is focusing on new technologies. The new American Administration is focusing on new ideas, they don't want their landscape carpeted with SO2 flares. We can either be part of the solution, or be left behind. Having our politicians go to the US and brag about how frigging great we are is not what they want to hear. They want to here how we are going to help our largest trading partner get out of this economic jamb, and pave a new future. Harper and Ed just don't get it. They try to claim that they created the economic climate during the boom. BS, We live in a energy/mineral based commodity economy and that is why we ride on these boom bust waves. They knew the bust was coming and lied to the population, and now they try to distance themselves from the outcome. Claiming, "how could we have known?" And, "this is worldwide, we didn't cause it." WE need real leaders, with real reform. If we do not get on board with reform, when we wake up on the day the Americans have completed theirs it will be too late. For us to support leaders who think they can do a end-run around American policy is just plain stupid. By the time they are done reforming their government policies and labor standards, if we have not, we are going to be in big trouble. Harper was bragging about the Mulroney Free Trade Agreement. That document will come back to haunt Canada if there is not real reform here.
This is Alberta and if the people in charge can not see the future coming, then those people need to be replaced. I believe that my remedy to my WCB situation is a Constitutional Challenge. Our rights as a group or as a individual injured worker have been stripped from us because we got hurt at work. We are being discriminated against by the act of denying us true legal remedial tort. Talk to any judge, he will tell you that is not a board made up off old bagmen. All other citizens, under all other circumstances may apply to the courts for tort remedy, except us. All we want is too stand in front of a real judge(s), not a tea club of old crony bagman from the WCB. When the Charter was signed there existed on the books laws that are contrary to the Charter. The WCB acts in All provinces are in violation of the Charter. You cannot strip us of the right to seek true legal remedy, the charter guarantees it. To have laws on the books that discriminate and strip individuals or groups of rights guaranteed under the Charter, is in direct conflict with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are all protected equally under the Law.

The validity of the Workers Compensation Act should be challenged on the basis that it infringes the equality rights guaranteed in section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“the Charter”).
In particular to be specific Section 17 is discriminatory, and as such unconstitutional:

Jurisdiction of Board

17(1) Subject to section 13.1, the Board has exclusive jurisdiction to examine, inquire into, hear and determine all matters and questions arising under this Act or the regulations and the action or decision of the Board on such matters and questions is final and conclusive, and is not open to question or review in any court.

(2) No proceedings by or before the Board shall be restrained by injunction, prohibition or other process or proceedings in any court or are removable by certiorari or otherwise into any court, nor shall any action be maintained or brought against the Board, any employee or officer of the Board or any member of the board of directors in respect of any act or decision done or made in the honest belief that it was within the jurisdiction of the Board.

(3) The Board has authority to reconsider any matter that it has dealt with and to rescind or amend any decision or order previously made by it.

(4) Each matter shall be decided on the merits and justice of the case and the Board is not bound to follow any previous decision or ruling of the Board as a precedent in reaching its decisions or making its rulings.

(5) The Board has the same powers as the Court of Queen’s Bench for compelling the attendance of witnesses and of examining them under oath and compelling the production and inspection of books, papers, documents and things.

(6) The Board may cause depositions of witnesses residing in or outside Alberta to be taken before any person appointed by the Board in a manner similar to that prescribed by the Alberta Rules of Court.

RSA 2000 cW‑15 s17;2002 c27 s10;2005 c48 s2

Because of the publicly renowned mass corruption, abuse of power in creating their own bogus consulted bylaws. The are guilty of mass abuse of human rights. These boards and their Acts of legislation can no longer stand the legal test of legitimacy.
The purveyors of WCB's across this nation have so 100% completely perverted that act, that those documents can no longer be raised as legitimate acts of LAW. To do so is embarrassing the legal profession itself. For any legal intellect to hold that perverted sicko system up as a true legal mechanism, with real tort remedy is completely assinine.
Additionally, no human wants to be forced into a lengthy legal battle for the right to medical treatment of injuries suffered at work. We just want help, real true honest help. I was injured at work, there is no human who wants to be dragged into a legal and medical mine field, laced with bogus medical expert boobie traps. George Bush's crew lost their election, so deal with it.
HMO's are evil.
A famous quote about the Charter he helped shape.
I read a article in the Post by a lawyer who deals with WCB claims across the country, secret agent/buddy. A fantasy out of touch rag, if you believe that BS you ARE a moron. Another sell out, no shortage of them. Level playing field, talk about deluded. Smelly journalism without investigation is not journalism.
The idea of a law firm that advises large employers, while representing injured workers is a old american platform. If you cannot see the trap door in that arrangement, you deserve what ever you get.

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