Several Edmonton city councillors have shared examples of what they say is red tape getting in the way of business. So against that backdrop, they set a target on Tuesday for the planning department to reduce the amount of time it takes for a business to launch, or grow, by a third.
Coun. Sarah Hamilton tabled the motion after hearing complaints about how long it takes for a development permit to make physical changes to a business location, or how opening day for a new enterprise is delayed by the length of time it takes to get a business licence.
Watch below: (From July 25, 2019) The CEO of cannabis company Fire and Flower criticized city of Edmonton administration Thursday, He called some of the permitting issues “a source of political embarrassment.” Quinn Ohler explains.
Hamilton said she hopes the answers that come back from the planning department will clear the way to reduce red tape.
“This sends a signal to our business community, especially our entrepreneurs in the city, that Edmonton is committed to improving our processes and making it easier to do business in the city,” she said.
Stephanie McCabe, the deputy city manager for urban form, said the report that will be generated will look forward at what can be done, instead of taking a historical look back at what went wrong.
The process will effectively be a diagnosis, listing reasons for delays.
“It is culture, and it is process,” McCabe told Council. “When you don’t have consistent process, or you don’t have consistent targets that people are working towards, it’s really hard for everybody to be rowing in the same direction to be able to get the work done as efficiently as possible”
She also added that in several cases, the city is carrying out regulations that are put in place by the province, so their hands are tied.
Safety codes are one example. That prompted Mayor Don Iveson to suggest that this report will provide an opportunity to point out examples of red tape to the Kenney government.
“I think it’s good for us to be taking a look at this at the same time as the province has sent a very clear signal about wanting to take a look at this,” the mayor said.
“We can’t repeal those regulations,” Iveson added. “We can provide advice to the province as part of their red tape reduction, that some of these regulations are in the way, but some of what we have to administer here is not actually from a regulatory-making point of view, within our jurisdiction.”
City manager Linda Cochrane agreed, saying city staff are caught in the middle of trying to help and enforce rules at the same time.
“That interplay between regulation and helpfulness and speed is a big part of the issue,” she said.
The city did set up a concierge service to help industrial initiatives, and plans on doing that for smaller business as well.
Iveson said he’s seen examples of a planning department employee working as a translator of business speak by the entrepreneur and how bureaucrats think and react.
Coun. Bev Esslinger said it makes a difference.
“The cost to them and their small business, when they were just trying to take one step up, was astronomical and almost put them under.”
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