"I think the NDP should keep their powder dry and wait until we get the facts," Mahoney said yesterday after Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton tabled a motion in the Legislature that proposes scrapping the "experience rating" program.
That program is under fire from labour groups because it uses data about lost-time injuries to provide incentive payments to companies — even though some of them have been convicted of labour code violations or experienced fatalities in their workplaces.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton wants to know how much money went to undeserving companies, adding that he has no faith the McGuinty government will attempt to make any serious changes as part of the internal review which Mahoney initiated after the problem was brought to his attention.
Labour groups said the former Mississauga City councillor, and Liberal MPP and MP should have been fully aware of the long-standing problem with the program introduced in 1985, when he took over the WSIB reins a year ago.
Mahoney said his critics should await the outcome of the internal review, expected soon. "It's a little disappointing, frankly, and I don't know what purpose it will serve," he said of the NDP motion.
The motion is scheduled to be debated at Queen's Park next week.
jstewart@mississauga.net
