New award recognizes worst offenders that create red tape headaches for small biz
TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2014 /CNW/ - With Canada's fifth annual Red Tape Awareness WeekTM (January 27 - 31) just around the corner, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has announced the finalists for its new Paperweight Award.
Unlike the Golden Scissors Award, which honours those who have made strides to cut down red tape for entrepreneurs, the Paperweight Award throws the spotlight on government departments, agencies and other regulators who have made life more difficult for small business owners by adding unnecessarily to the burden of government rules and paperwork. From coast to coast, the stories range from the ridiculous, to the eye-opening, to the utterly destructive and stupid.
Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government. The winner - along with dishonourable mentions - will be announced on Friday, January 31, the final day of CFIB's Red Tape Awareness WeekTM.
The Finalists for the 2014 Paperweight Award are:
| Finalist: | Red tape headache |
| Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety |
Requiring a permit to switch days off work. |
| Ontario Ministry of Labour | Mandatory WSIB coverage forcing employers in the construction sector to pay double. |
| Federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program | Recent changes that make a program that was already time-consuming and frustrating, even more so. |
| Quebec Ministry of Labour | Antiquated rules that prohibit hair salons in the Outaouais Region from cutting hair on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. |
| Saskatchewan Apprenticeship & Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) |
Restrictive licensing requirements that don't distinguish barbers from hairstylists, making it hard for businesses to hire the right person. |
| Ontario College of Trades | Would you believe the same rules that apply in Saskatchewan also burden Ontario hair salons? They do. |
| Multi-Material British Columbia (MMBC) | New laws that force businesses to weigh, measure and report paper and packaging waste. Non-compliance costs can go up to $200,000. |
| Environmental stewardship organizations in Ontario |
Arms-length government agencies entrusted with running environmental programs are getting away with red tape murder in Ontario. Steep annual fee hikes and crazy administration are just the start. |
| Electronic Products Recycling Association (All provinces except AB and NB) |
Similarly to other "stewardship" agencies, these arms-length bodies impose steep costs and other onerous requirements on business, with little accountability. |
| Re:Sound and SOCAN (arms-length federal agencies) |
Charging small businesses royalty fees for having the radio on in their lobby. |
| Ontario College of Trades (2nd nomination) | Ontario's restrictive journeyperson-to-apprentice ratios in high demand trades lag behind the rest of the country. |
| City of Vancouver | Banning the doorknob. All new buildings, not just public buildings, must have lever-style handles instead of knobs. |
| Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program | Language requirements clash with language testing capacity in a pilot project targeting Alberta's critical labour shortage. |
Canadians are encouraged to show their support for CFIB's Red Tape Revolution by signing the on-line petition (www.cfib.ca/rtaw) that will be delivered to governments.
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
For more information, please contact Gisele Lumsden at 416-222-8022 or [email protected].
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