Media Advisory - CFIB reveals Canada-wide nominees for red tape reduction award

Winner of the 'Golden Scissors' to be announced January 22

TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2016 /CNW/ - In the lead-up to Red Tape Awareness Week™ (January 18-22), the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has announced the finalists for the Golden Scissors Award, which honours an elected official or others in government who have shown leadership and delivered meaningful results in cutting red tape for small business.

Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government. The winner of the 2016 Golden Scissors Award will be unveiled on Friday, January 22.

The finalists are:

Finalist	Red tape reduction initiative
Richelle Bourgoin, Former Director, Mission Planning and Employer Engagement, Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy	Bourgoin's team helped 3,700 employers address worker shortages by improving the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program. It used to take eight months to hire a worker through the program. It now takes 10 days.
Hon. Nancy Heppner, Saskatchewan Minister of Highways and Infrastructure; Hon. Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan Minister Responsible for Immigration, Trade, Innovation and Tourism	Ministers Heppner and Harrison worked together to change provincial regulations for wide-load signs on trucks to match neighbouring Alberta. Now, businesses don't need two different signs for each truck, and drivers no longer need to risk life and limb at the side of the road to switch signs when crossing the provincial border.
Hon. Stephen McNeil, Premier, Nova Scotia; Canada's Premiers	Premier McNeil led the charge for an interprovincial and territorial agreement, recognizing each other's apprenticeship rules. The agreement will make it easier for workers to find jobs in other provinces and for businesses to hire them from other parts of the country.
Hon. Brad Duguid, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure	Minister Duguid introduced legislation that now requires Ontario to regularly report on measures it is taking to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses.
Hon. Alan McIsaac, Prince Edward Island Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries; former Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal	As former Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, Minister McIsaac replaced annual registration of farm vehicles with one-time registration.
Hon. Brian Gallant, Premier of New Brunswick, Hon. Stephen McNeil, Premier of Nova Scotia, Hon. Wade MacLauchlan, Premier of Prince Edward Island	Premiers McNeil and Gallant created the Joint Office of Regulatory Services and Effectiveness in March and were joined by Premier MacLauchlan in November. The Office's work includes cutting red tape and creating a better regulatory environment in the Maritimes.  It is committed to measuring and publicly reporting on the red tape burden.
Hon. Jean-Denis Girard, Quebec Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Regulatory Streamlining and Regional Economic Development; Hon. Sam Hamad, Quebec Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity	Labour Minister Hamad created a government-industry working group and gave it a mandate to recommend ways to cut the cost of red tape on small and medium-sized businesses by 20 per cent (more than $250 million a year) by the end of 2015. Small Business Minister Girard oversaw the implementation of the measures resulting from the working group to reduce red tape on businesses across government.
Hon. Christy Clark, Premier of British Colombia; Hon. Coralee Oakes, Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction	The government of BC legislated Canada's first-ever Red Tape Reduction Day in B.C. (first Tuesday of March), and extended the province's commitment to no net increase in regulation to 2019.
Hon. Mark Furey, Nova Scotia Minister of Business and Minister of Service	Minister Furey led the creation of an online registration portal for restaurants, accommodation services and convenience stores, which has saved countless time and money for business owners just starting out.

Government red tape is a hidden tax that affects Canada's small businesses much more than larger firms. The annual cost of all regulations on businesses in Canada is pegged at $37 billion per year, with one-third ($11 billion) of that unnecessary red tape.

CFIB is Canada's largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region.

SOURCE Canadian Federation of Independent Business

please contact Ryan Mallough at 416-222-8022 or [email protected], or visit www.cfib.ca/rtaw.