The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has awarded B.C. an ‘A’ grade – the highest mark of any province – for cutting red tape, the business lobby group announced January 22.
“British Columbia is the only province that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to measuring red tape,” said Laura Jones, CFIB executive vice-president. “Without this, there can be no accountability.”
B.C. set up the red-tape reduction task force in 2001, committing to reduce the baseline 360,295 regulations by one third by 2004. The province has reduced that number by 42% as of 2012 and has established a net zero increase policy will continue until at least 2015.
In addition, the province passed the Regulatory Reporting Act, committing the government to an annual public report on the government’s ongoing progress.
CFIB’s report card evaluates federal and provincial governments’ progress on regulatory reform. It also looks at:
- political leadership;
- efforts to measure the regulatory burden;
- long-term thinking; and
- the overall public policy context.
Provincial and territorial grades run the gamut from B.C. government’s ‘A’ grade through to the ‘D’ assessments that Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Yukon each earned.
The federal government earned a B+.
