Ottawa slashes red-tape by 20 per cent in one year

    Small business in the pink over announcement

    VANCOUVER, March 20 /CNW/ - Minister of State Diane Ablonczy's
announcement today that the federal government met its target to reduce paper
burden by 20 per cent is being hailed as a big step forward by the Canadian
Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). "The federal government set the
most aggressive timeline in the country for reducing red-tape," said CFIB
president Catherine Swift. "This is a truly impressive accomplishment by the
thirteen departments and agencies that were involved in the process."
    CFIB estimates that red-tape costs Canadian businesses around $30 billion
a year, with small firms paying the highest per-employee costs. "This means
business owners' waste time and money at the expense of their companies, their
employees and, more generally, the economy," said Laura Jones, CFIB's
vice-president of Western Canada and co-chair of the Federal Advisory
Committee on Paper Burden Reduction. "It's great to see this changing," she
added, "as keeping these costs manageable can help create some economic
certainty in uncertain times."
    CFIB emphasizes the need to build on the announcement and make reforms
permanent. "Regulation is an ongoing headache for business," said Swift. She
pointed out the antidote is ongoing measurement and control, not one-off
reduction initiatives. Jones said measuring and controlling paper burden over
the long term is a key recommendation in the Advisory Committee on Paper
Burden's last report to government. She said that during the election campaign
it was good to see the government commit to this. "We look forward to working
with the federal government to make it a reality."
    Jones said it was nice to see the announcement being made in Vancouver as
the B.C. provincial government was the first in the country to commit to
measuring and reducing red-tape in 2001. Since then, many other provinces
including Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec and most recently,
Ontario have moved in this direction. "The B.C. government deserves a lot of
credit for their initiative, which has been a model for the federal government
and for others across the country," said Jones.
    Swift said the government has moved on several of CFIB's specific
recommendations to streamline red-tape, including announcing a simplified
automobile expense deduction that will allow business owners to keep a logbook
for a sample period of time instead of for a full year. "This change alone,
once implemented, promises to save thousands of hours that can be put to more
productive use," said Swift. She also said Ottawa has allowed more businesses
to move from monthly to quarterly tax remittances, simplified the Scientific
Research and Development tax credit and is introducing a passport that can be
renewed every 10 years instead of the current five. "Branding Canada as being
serious about controlling red-tape over the long term promises big economic
rewards. This announcement is an important step in that direction," concluded
Swift.

For further information: Laura Jones in Vancouver at [phone] or
Catherine Swift in Toronto at [phone]