Sask. up to ‘B’ in ‘red tape report card’
Saskatchewan has moved up one grade in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s annual red tape report card.
The province gets a “B”, compared with a “C” last year, the pro-business group said Tuesday, the second day of its 5th annual “Red Tape Awareness Week”.
B.C. led the CFIB’s pack with an “A”, while Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick tied with Saskatchewan with “B.”
“I think it’s a grade that I’d be reasonably proud to take home to my parents,” quipped Kent Campbell, deputy minister of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of the Economy, which is handling the red tape file.
But he also recalled what his grandmother told him about a mark of 89 per cent: “That’s only 11 per cent from where you want to be.”
By that, he means there’s room for improvement.
And the government’s chosen tool is its Regulatory Modernization and Accountability Act, passed last year and aiming to find the most effective, efficient and relevant regulations.
In all, the province has updated over 100 policies, plans and procedures in pursuit of more clarity and effectiveness, Campbell told a news conference at the Legislative Building marking “Red Tape Awareness Week.”
As examples of recent changes, he cited modifications to the province’s liquor laws that, among many other things, let spas and salons sell drinks and let patrons bring their own wine to restaurants. He also mentioned three major provincial Crown corporations’ recent decision to turn over the detection of underground utility lines to a private contractor and the ministry of labour’s creation of an employment code embracing most provincial labour legislation — a move that drew wide and angry criticism from organized labour.
But Marilyn Braun-Pollon, the CFIB’s vice-president for the Prairies and agriculture, said these objections fail to take into account the changing workplace and needs of individual workers.
She added a recent CFIB survey showed government regulation was the secondmost important issue facing the province’s small business owners, behind only taxes — and serious enough that 26 per cent of these owners indicated they might not have gone into business if they’d known how onerous the paperwork is.
Braun-Pollon said the CFIB knows the importance of health and safety, environmental and labour standards regulations, and objects only to those that are confusing or outdated.
Later this week, the CFIB will hand out its annual “Golden Scissors” award to Canadians who’ve effectively cut red tape and also unveil a new award mocking senseless regulations — The Paperweight.