Annual Report 2003–2004

President’s Message

The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission is a unique, independent, quasi-judicial agency within the Health Portfolio. Its clients and stakeholders represent industry, workers, employers and governments at the federal, provincial and territorial levels. We endeavour to build relationships of trust, respect and understanding with all of them. Our approach is simple and straightforward—Canadian taxpayers’ interests are best served by considering and balancing the needs of workers and industry alike, and the only solution is one that protects both.

The Commission emphasizes cooperation, openness and dialogue in carrying out its mandate. It seeks creative and progressive approaches to modernize procedures and programs. It strives to offer a streamlined, efficient and timely service that is cost-effective and does not impose undue financial or administrative burdens on clients and stakeholders. Above all, the Commission endeavours to be fair, consistent and accountable for all it does.

Workplace safety is the ultimate goal of our stakeholders, working together in a complex, multi-jurisdictional environment. We are committed to improving cross-jurisdictional coordination to realize this shared vision and to provide the best results for Canadians.

The Commission was faced with many challenges in fiscal year 2003–2004. Our backlog of claims was still very high while at the same time we faced a critical shortage of staff and significant financial uncertainty that had the potential of seriously impacting on our ability to deliver on our mandate.

Nevertheless, the Commission succeeded in realizing significant accomplishments, including the reduction of the backlog, considered a high priority for the Commission, as well as introducing important improvements to our internal management practices. We surpassed our estimates for registration of new claims as well as the number of compliance decisions rendered. We revamped the Commission’s Web site, considered our most important communications tool, to make it more user-friendly and allow for the addition of new components as required.

On the international front, the global harmonization standard, a harmonized system for hazard classification and labelling, was endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. We endeavour to present Canada as an international model for the protection of chemical companies’ trade secrets by showing the benefits of our confidential business information protection mechanism for both industry and the Canadian workers.

This year’s accomplishments indicated to us that we continue to bring substantial returns on our investments in the Commission’s progressive approach to modernization. I look forward to working with Commission staff, the Council of Governors, and our clients and stakeholders next year to build on these accomplishments.

Weldon Newton
President and Chief Executive Officer