Cutting red tape Alberta’s new motto

Our provincial government wants to be more user friendly

By Paul Marck

The headline blared that not only would the energy industry save $170 million in regulatory costs, but that the Alberta government’s new regime would be more “modern, flexible, effective and efficient.” You are going to see a lot more of this sort of thing.

It was a refrain I heard filter down just before leaving the employ of the Government of Alberta and joining Alberta Venture four months ago. That being, government had made a philosphical decision early this year that it needed to connect more directly with Albertans. A big part of this resulted from a litany of complaints from both individuals and businesses that the regulatory environment had become suffocating to the point of strangling incentive, innovation — and most importantly, profits.

So quietly, the government has been turning its rules playbook on its head in an effort to be nimble and responsive to the needs of business.  The evidence is already out there across many sectors. In the area most near and dear to us all, health care has suddenly pared waiting lists for surgeries and announced a whole whack of procedures will be done, and quickly, to get stricken Albertans back on their feet. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development is working double-time to get back in the good graces of the beef industry with less stringent measures on its livestock traceability programs through a subsidized tagging incentive that will reduce costs for producers. And now the energy department is finding more ways to stop industry loose change from slipping between the sofa cushions.

You can bet that between now and the next election in 2012, every government department will find ways to cut red tape and save money for business. Provided our elected officials don’t cede all of its regulatory responsibilities along with this, it could be a good thing.

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