Alberta ranked failure for red-tape reduction

OTTAWA – It might surprise some that a national business group is rating Alberta as a complete failure in reducing red tape for entrepreneurs.

In keeping with the theme of Red Tape Awareness Week, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday released grades for how it feels the country’s federal and provincial governments are doing in reducing the regulatory burden on businesses.

While Alberta is seen by some as a pro-business haven among provinces, the CFIB gave it an F for its efforts to reduce red tape. The group said it has no political leadership on the cause, no initiative to report progress on reducing administrative hassles and no constraints on regulators.

Also getting an F were the governments of Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

At the other end, British Columbia was the top-ranked government with B-plus. The CFIB praised its leadership on the effort and its action for setting reduction targets and reporting results.

Ottawa and governments for every province and territory except for Nunavut were ranked.

The federal government was given a C-plus. It was congratulated for achieving a 20 per cent reduction in paperwork for businesses between 2007 and 2009, but noted for not continuing with measurements since then. Quebec also received a C-plus, while Ontario was given a C-minus.

The CFIB said the results show that every government in Canada has room for improvement in reducing the red-tape burden for businesses.

"Lots of politicians over the years have committed to reduce regulation; very few have taken meaningful action that can be easily evaluated," said Laura Jones, the CFIB’s project leader on red-tape reduction.

Canadian governments grades for red-tape reduction:

British Columbia B+

Nova Scotia B

Newfoundland and Labrador B

Quebec C+

Federal government C+

Saskatchewan C+

Ontario C-

New Brunswick C-

Prince Edward Island D

Manitoba F

Alberta F

Yukon F

Northwest Territories F

Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business