Members of the St. Albert business community are sharpening their scissors to cut the red tape obstructing business interests, after a red tape reduction roundtable last week.
Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally hosted the Oct. 4 event and said it is part of the Alberta government’s “mandate” to reduce red tape in the province by 30 per cent.
Nally said next to the UCP government’s corporate tax cut from 12 to eight per cent over four years, reducing red tape is “probably the single biggest thing” the government can do to drive business expansion and job creation.
“We don’t want you online filling out forms, crossing all the t’s and dotting i’s,” he said. “We want you focusing on your business, we want you expanding your business and creating more jobs. It’s not a goal of 30 per cent reduction on red tape, it’s a mandate.”
In an interview, Nally said as long as regulations and processes do not negatively impact the environment or safety – and as long as they inhibit business – those are the regulations the government will be looking to slash.
The MLA could not provide a timeline on the government’s red tape plan but said “there will be a sense of urgency.”
In June, the Alberta government passed Bill 4, the Red Tape Reduction Act, which will create an inventory of current regulations and their effectiveness while developing red tape reduction plans in all departments.
Attendees of St. Albert’s roundtable were divided up into groups by industry – including municipal government and non-profit – and each group was asked to come up with regulations that hold them back, as well as potential solutions. Afterward, each table made a presentation to the room.
A lot of the industries spoke about the need for clear and consistent communication with various government departments, especially Alberta Environment and Parks, which one participant described as a “black hole.”
Sue Monson, representing the land developers, construction and real estate table, suggested putting a set response period in place for projects, and if there is no response, it becomes deemed approved.
“If we see no response in the set timeline, we’d like there to be a deemed approval,” she said.
Shelley Passek, representing the non-profit table, said constantly labouring, sometimes for weeks, over the same annual grant applications takes away important time working with “vulnerable populations.” She suggested turning to multi-year funding contracts instead.
Some participants suggested there are overlaps in government that could be reduced by amalgamation or service sharing agreements.
“I guess our message was amalgamations – perhaps there is too much government and we should look at reducing in a lot of areas and amalgamating an awful lot more,” said Tom Lysyk.
The business and finance table said Alberta should administer its corporate tax system through the Canada Revenue Agency, making it more efficient for corporations to make tax returns and the province could make use of infrastructure that is already in place. Alberta and Quebec are the only provinces in Canada that do not rely on the CRA to administer corporate income tax.
One St. Albert councillor urged caution before slashing away at red tape.
Coun. Jacquie Hansen said accountability is the reason for red tape and that needs to be kept in mind.
“I think there has to be a caution there that the system can’t be taken for granted, and accountability still remains important,” she said in an interview.
St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce president Jennifer McCurdy said strengthening business competitiveness was a core pillar of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce’s Vote Prosperity campaign during the spring provincial election.
“This roundtable today, and the many that have already taken place and are taking place around the province, is a testament to this government's commitment to job creators and shared prosperity by improving the business environment in Alberta,” McCurdy said.
