I do NOT agree that all of these government workers are able to get permanent disability as a matter of fact because they are already presumed to be suffering from this condition by default of their employment as a government employee. Why you ask? Because government employees are NOT any more predisposed to any kind of medical condition than you or I. Do you know how I know this to be true? Because I was born with precisely the SAME number of nerves, nerved endings and feelings as any other red blooded human being living and working in this province. Exactly the same number, no more and no less, so the idea of "Presumptive Injury" to me is patently ridiculous and a manifestation of Government Employees looking after more Government Employees. This is a troubling trend in Canada that needs to end, every day we open the newspaper and the special group that we call "Government Employees" are standing there with their hands out looking for yet ANOTHER presumptive condition that the WCB does not challenge, investigate nor question any of the treatments or diagnosis of this ONE SPECIAL group of workers.
I was unfortunate enough that I was NOT a Government Employee on the day I fell, because if I was then I would have been given "Presumptive Treatment" and would have NEVER experienced ANY problems accessing proper, timely and relevant medical treatments and an actual diagnosis for my broken back. But since I was born just a regular guy who went to work and slipped and fell in front of his boss and the job Superintendent, I get the Jackboot end of the shaft from WCB Alberta.
That whole premise of presumptive injury to me is nothing more than DISCRIMINATION wrapped nicely in a giant bleeding heart package of overblown sympathy for Government Workers! That outrages me because it measures regular working people in the private sector as "SECOND CLASS citizens", and that is discrimination as far as I am concerned. Just because you were a Prison guard, a Police Officer, a Fireman or an Ambulance Driver, you should not be "ENTITLED to better treatment" than somebody working in the private sector building a house or laying a sewer line.
Where is the EQUALITY in this legislation that is changed almost monthly now to accommodate to growing number of Government Workers who are climbing over each other to claim PTSD? Ever since the cities of AB amalgamated the Ambulance Drivers (EMT's) into one agency making them ALL employees of the province of Alberta, the rate of Ambulance Drivers claiming PTSD has increased at least 500%. There is something going on here and nobody is investigating the legitimacy of these claims.
The end product is that for a "First Responder" that was fully aware of the job duties and they were fully aware of the horrors of picking up mangled bodies would be part of their daily routine, now since they are no longer happy with their employer they can easily claim PTSD because this is now a "Presumptive Condition". That is BS as far as I am concerned because when a City of Edmonton Employee does claim WCB and is awarded a permanent disability award as part of this "Presumptive Condition" that "First Responder" has just won a pile of cash that is better than Winning the Lottery because that guy will never go broke. A City of Edmonton Employee gets 100% of their wages, benefits replaced in ANY WCB Claim. The City of Edmonton Employees have it written into their agreement, if the WCB only pays 80%, the City of Edmonton will TOP OFF that amount to 100%, and it is TAX FREE!
Don't forget that these permanent disability claims are not taxable because you are permanently disabled, so the disabled City Employee from the remand center that has claimed PTSD is now taking home MORE money than they could possible EVER take home working for the City. This is a troubling trend in cities across Canada, government workers using the WCB Presumptive Conditions so they can lay on the beach in Mexico getting bombed while the rest of you poor working slobs slug it out in the trenches for a living. That is a crying shame that this is what our bleeding heart Government Workers have designed into their collective agreements so they can check out and cash out any time they like. That is just wrong considering the treatment and abuse that I have suffered from the WCB of Alberta.
And that folks is WHY I have written for YEARS now that WCB is for Government Workers ONLY. It is THEIR special retirement club, CLUB MED that is, and you are NOT invited.
I 100% do NOT agree with Government workers getting any SPECIAL Presumptive TREAMENTs, period. That is discrimination of the worst kind because it discriminates against regular working stiffs like me and thousands of other injured Canadians across this country that have risked their life and limb to bring home the bacon to mom and the kids.
In Canada, there is a growing movement to try to treat PTSD in emergency responders. British Columbia and Alberta have recently changed worker compensation laws to make PTSD a presumptive condition. That means emergency responders suffering from the disorder will be presumed to have it as a direct result of their jobs, making it easier to qualify for compensation and treatment. Here is the excerpt from the City of Edmonton & Civic Service Union 52 Collective Agreement
On page 36
8.04 Supplementation of Compensation Award
If an employee is prevented from performing the employee's regular work with the City on account of an occupational accident that is recognized by the Workers' Compensation Board as compensable within the meaning of the Workers' Compensation Act, the City will supplement the award made by the Workers' Compensation Board for loss of wages to the employee by such an amount that the award of the Workers' Compensation Board for loss of wages (excluding non-economic loss payment), together with the supplementation by the City, will equal 100% of the employee's regular net wage (gross pay less statutory deductions, union dues and required benefit plan contributions).
This is the WHY is there so many "First Responders" claiming PTSD, is my opinion. It is all about the money is what I see going on here and City and Provincial Governments have FED this trend by creating the discriminatory conditions necessary with the regimen of the WCB Acts across Canada. If you notice when there is EVER any question of WCB motives the governing Provincial Government will THROW up their ARMS and claim their hands are tied and they cannot interfere with WCB since it is a private organization here in Alberta. But is there is a group of GOVERNMENT workers who want special treatment and for the government to discriminate against regular working stiffs, the WCB is thrown into action in a moments notice a press conference is arraigned and the appropriate Government Officials gather to pat each other on the back for creating YET ANOTHER DISCRIMINATION LAW into effect!
This IS WHERE the Alberta Government GOT IT's "Aura of Entitlement FROM", is this kind of discriminatory legislation that only helps THEM! This government Culture of Entitlement has been nurtured and fueled for decades now here in Alberta and it is time for ALL CITIZENS of Alberta to be treated with the SAME common decency that you would extend to any guest in your house, that is not the case here in Hellberta right now. The SPECIAL, the ENTITLED, and the GOVERNMENT WORKER rule this land, and it is time to put an end to this practice of discrimination against regular working joes in this province.