WCB's Nancy MacCready-Williams … DUBIOUS DISTINCTION

There was a time when, to be a recipient of a meritorious award, it meant someone was being singled out for their bravery, good deeds or heroism … laudable efforts worthy of high praise for someone who had gone above and beyond to achieve something out of the ordinary on behalf of his fellow man.

Martha Stewart, in her laconic style, might call this award “A good thing”, without knowing the facts.


In Nova Scotia, “laudable” was twisted into “laughable” by the Atlantic Business Magazine who recently decided to recognize Nancy MacCready-Williams, the current CEO of one of the most fraudulent organizations ever to be legitimized by current and past governments of this province, for her work.

In this instance, though, the award is laughable when one considers the context within which it was earned … there is nothing worthy of laughter here. Tears and anger are more apropos for such shameful achievements.

I don’t recall Dr. Josef Mengele ever being awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries in medicine … as the result of experiments conducted on hapless inmates of Auschwitz.And, certainly, Osama Bin Ladan is a doubtful choice for any humanitarian awards from B’nai Brith.

So, why in hell did the business community in Nova Scotia second an award to the head of Nova Scotia Workers Compensation Board as one of Atlantic Canada’s Top CEO’s?

Curiosity causes one to wonder what criteria were used in the selection process. Was Ms MacCready-Williams adjudicated simply on the number of claimants denied, or, more particularly, on the numbers of dollars snatched from the hands of those injured and dead that were unfortunate enough to have WCB “coverage” through their employers?

Any other reason is superfluous when one considers the history of the WCB in Nova Scotia and how it has developed its doubtful reputation ( deserved) for its (less than fair) dealings with claimants.

Or, perhaps, the award is based on WCB efforts and abilities to destroy the lives of injured workers and their dependants? Or is there a separate category for this achievement? Certainly, some credit should be awarded for WCB efforts at building their numbers of bankrupted and foreclosed claimants who had looked to their organization for an income. Better yet, how about the numbers of suicides instigated by their arbitrary denials to claimants? Surely, that success must be worthy of an award.

We have here an agency (of the government, mind you) that exists for itself, apparently. Hundreds of MILLIONS in its bank accounts being added to each time the WCB manages to deny an injured worker what is lawfully and morally his/her due.

This is fraud of the first order … duping workers out of their legal rights while protecting employers from legal action because they pay an “insurance premium” … collected, supposedly, to “cover” the very same workers the WCB takes exemplary effort in denying. This, then, begs the question as to where the distinction lies between what role the WCB performs … as compared to any one of a number of “protection rackets” owned and operated by Organized Crime … who, likewise, have no compunction in making money at the expense of the dead and injured.

Recently, the Nova Scotia WCB was roundly criticized for the way it does business by none other than James Dorsey, Q.C., a lawyer from B.C. who specializes in this area of the law. He made no bones about those improvements he felt should be made, posthaste, to make this vile agency into something acting more fairly and equitably with injured claimants. This, in spite of the fact he was paid part of the 2.5 million dollars (your tax dollars, again) to render an “objective” summation of WCB practices. His conclusions were not what the government expected or wanted to hear, evidently.

Sad but true ...and, always "legal"... these legislated employer insurance providers, (W.C.B. Boards) are well known for their demonstrated incompetence, mismanagement, bungling, deceit, apathy, political meddling,( all expressed in the Dorsey Report) and their obvious bad faith actions ... excused and masked as innocent omissions while, in reality demonstrating the worst kind of cynicism and hypocrisy.

To date, none of his recommendations have been implemented voluntarily and the government of the day has not pushed either …indicating its lack of political will and disdain for ethics, as usual.

The organization (WCB) continues, without compunction, to deny deserving claimants their legal and moral rights … with tacit approval from a government that continually coddles the business community with handouts from tax coffers while keeping a blind eye to WCB practices.

Perhaps, given the input from the government and cooperation from government unions, Nancy MacCready-Williams should share her award.

Ms. MacCready-Williams Bio..Alumni Appointee, 2006-2009 Member, Human Resources Committee and Academic Affairs & Research Committee She's a lady of the law.


Contributed by:
Wayne Coady
Spokesperson :Injured and Abused Workers Coalition
wcoady@accesswave.ca