Small business advocate steamed over "crazy" change to WSIB.(AROUND THE NORTH)

A proposal by the provincial labour minister, Peter Fonesca, to remove a rule which exempts independent construction operators from extending benefits and services through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has upset the province's largest small business advocate.

"I cannot begin to say how disturbed we are to have Minister Fonesca put forward this crazy policy," said Judith Andrew, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)'s director of provincial affairs, in a release.

The move was made without consulting the CFIB, Andrew said, and that it will not do anything to rectify problems surrounding the "underground economy", and may expose the WSIB to unfounded benefits claims.

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