PTSD compensation bill for first responders clears hurdle

A bill to give first responders easier access to compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder has cleared another legislative hurdle.

A committee of Liberal and Progressive Conservative MLAs unanimously endorsed the bill and passed a motion asking the Attorney General to look it over to make sure it's properly drafted.

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The Liberals have also asked the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour to come up with a way to consult the public on the bill.

"I have had different people ask me about an opportunity to speak to this bill because of different things that have happened in their lives," Miramichi Bay-Neguac Liberal MLA Lisa Harris said.

"They want to make sure that we get this bill right."

Everybody's been working together.- Ross Wetmore, PC MLA

The bill, introduced by Opposition PC MLA Ross Wetmore, would mean first-responders such as firefighters and paramedics diagnosed with PTSD would no longer have to prove to WorkSafeNB that the condition is work-related.

In effect, it would grant them automatic benefits to help pay for treatment.

Because the Legislature isn't sitting, the bill won't come to a vote before the current session is prorogued next week. A new session will start on Tuesday with a speech from the throne.

It's likely a revised version of the bill will be re-introduced in the new session, either by the PC Opposition or the Liberal government.

Wetmore said he was happy the Liberals had endorsed the bill despite it coming from a political opponent.

"You know I realize we have a government we have to work with, and I'm pleased the way everybody's been working together," he said.

Harris agreed.

"I believe that we take partisan politics out of issues such as this," she said.

"It shows there's good faith in addressing this most important situation."

Need outweighs cost

The financial impact of the bill is still unknown.

"I can't speak to that cost at this time," Harris told reporters.

"We have to make sure we're looking at cost, but we definitely need to look at why this bill is so important … There are times when we have to realize there are issues that have a cost to it, but it's the right thing to do."

The province commissioned an actuarial study to analyze whether the premiums that first-responder employers, including municipalities, pay to WorkSafeNB would go up.

That study is finished, but the committee is waiting to release it until it can be translated into French.

Wetmore said earlier this month the premiums shouldn't increase very much because data he was given shows WorkSafeNB rejected only five PTSD claims in the last five years.

On Wednesday, he again rejected questions about the cost.

"I think you should be asking the families of first responders who have committed suicide," Wetmore told reporters.

"Ask them if this is a worthy bill to bring forward and if we can afford it."

Saint John Coun. Greg Norton says it's too early to say what the costs would be for his city, which has struggled financially.

"Certainly our concern would be for the proper treatment of mental health issues in our employees," he said.