First responders, sheriffs and correctional officers will have greater access to services and compensation for mental disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that can arise from traumatic workplace incidents, as a result of legislative amendments announced by Labour Minister Harry Bains.

" These changes are about fairness and support for workers who put their lives on the line, to protect British Columbians as part of their jobs," Bains said. " First responders, sheriffs and both provincial and federal correctional officers who experience trauma on the job and are diagnosed with a mental disorder, should not have the added stress of having to prove that their disorder is work related, in order to receive support and compensation."

The proposed amendments to the Workers Compensation Act will be introduced in the house today. If approved by the legislature, these amendments will add PTSD and other mental disorders to the list of conditions that are recognized as being presumptive conditions associated with specific types of jobs. The list includes conditions that are presumed to have been caused by the nature of the work, rather than having to be proven to be job related.

" We are so grateful for the heroic work that first responders do in our communities every day," said Bains. " This proposed change ensures that when the people who protect us need support, B.C.'s workers' compensation system supports them to ensure a full recovery."

The new mental-disorder presumption will apply to firefighters, police officers, paramedics, sheriffs and correctional officers.

Additionally, the amendments will extend the existing cancer presumptions for municipal firefighters to include federal firefighters on military bases. It recognizes that firefighters from military bases may be exposed to dangerous substances, and frequently assist municipalities at off-base incidents.

Officials claim, the legislative changes are a first step toward providing more support to workers who are first on the scene at challenging, and sometimes dangerous and traumatic, situations. Government will consider over time expanding presumptions to other types of workers who experience traumatic events at work, as well as continuing to focus on overall workplace safety.

Manufacturing sales increased 1.9% to $55.8 billion in February, following two consecutive monthly decreases. The growth was due mainly to higher sales in the transportation equipment industry.

While the nation did better as a whole, BC struggled to keep up with Central Canada. British Columbia posted the largest monthly decrease (-1.3%) and its fourth consecutive monthly decline. The decline in February was mostly due to lower sales in the electrical equipment, appliance and component industry.

Nationally, sales were up in 14 of 21 industries, representing 72.2% of the total Canadian manufacturing sector.

In constant dollars, sales rose 2.0%, slightly more than the gain in current dollar sales, reflecting a slight decrease in prices of products sold by Canadian manufacturers in February.

Sales in the transportation equipment industry grew 6.6% to $10.7 billion in February, following a 6.3% decline in January. This growth was due to advances in the motor vehicle (+8.9%) and motor vehicle parts (+4.8%) industries. These increases came on the heels of atypical assembly plant shutdowns in January. In constant dollars, sales volumes rose 9.3% in motor vehicle manufacturing and 4.8% in motor vehicle parts manufacturing in February.

Sales in the primary metal manufacturing industry rose 4.8% to $4.3 billion, following two straight monthly decreases. The increase in February was primarily the result of increased volumes. In constant dollars, sales in this industry were up 4.6%.

Sales were also up in the paper manufacturing (+3.2%) and computer and electronic product manufacturing (+5.7%) industries, following declines the previous month.

These increases were partially offset by a 2.1% decrease in the petroleum and coal products industry, whose sales totalled $5.8 billion, which was partly explained by the decrease in the price of refined products. After removing the effect of price changes, sales volumes of petroleum and coal products declined slightly by 0.7% in February.