Just last week in the House of Commons, your government introduced a piece of legislation that I have been anticipating for quite some time now. It is something that I am excited about because of how much it will benefit our own Yellowhead business community, as well as businesses across our country. This piece of legislation is the Red Tape Reduction Act and it will revolutionize our regulatory system.
Cutting red tape and making the regulatory process as pain-free as possible is one of the most important things that we, as a government, can do to help Canadian businesses thrive, particularly in this time of global economic uncertainty. Cutting red tape is not about deregulation – it is about getting rid of business irritants in areas of federal regulation, such as payroll, labour and trade, and introducing time-saving measures like single windows and electronic submissions.
Cutting red tape can increase Canadian competitiveness and free business to innovate, invest, grow and create jobs. It also underscores our reputation as one of the best places in the world in which to invest and do business. That is why your government has introduced the Red Tape Reduction Act to enshrine the One-for-One Rule into law.
The One-for-One Rule is part of our package of regulatory reforms aimed at cutting the red tape that can stifle business productivity and success. This rule strictly controls administrative burden on business because under this rule, regulators must remove a regulation each time they introduce a new regulation that imposes an administrative burden.
The One-for-One Rule has been in effect since April 1, 2012, and for the 2012-2013 fiscal year the Rule reduced administrative burden on business by about $3-million. This represents 98,000 hours in time saved for business annually, with a net of six regulations being eliminated from the government’s books. This trend continued throughout 2013 since by December 12, we had reduced administrative burden by almost $20-million and achieved a net reduction of 19 regulations.
Enshrining the One-for-One Rule in law is part of the commitment your government made to the people of Yellowhead and all Canadians when we launched the Red Tape Reduction Action Plan in October 2012. It is an important move because once the Rule becomes law, the government would be required to go to Parliament to amend the legislation. This is a meaningful change that we want to see respected for years to come.
Your government believes in real action to help you and your colleagues in the business community do your jobs to the best of your abilities, and the One-for-One Rule does just that.
