Alberta introduces bill to reduce red tape for business

EDMONTON – Alberta’s United Conservative government has introduced legislation to slash what it calls unnecessary regulations hindering economic growth and business development.

Premier Jason Kenney symbolically used scissors to cut a horizontal line of red tape at a factory south of Edmonton to highlight Bill 4, the Red Tape Reduction Act.

Alberta's mountain of red tape has been holding back our families and job creators from reaching our full potential.

We're going to cut the barriers to growth and prosperity in our province to make our economy the freest in Canada, if not all of North America. pic.twitter.com/879Oa9d0sB

— Jason Kenney ???????????????????????? (@jkenney) May 30, 2019

Kenney campaigned on reducing regulations by one-third over four years, and has appointed Grant Hunter as the associate minister in charge of the project.

Alberta will follow a similar reduction plan launched almost two decades ago in British Columbia.

Starting in 2001, B.C. reduced more than 330,000 regulatory requirements by 40 per cent over three years, and since then it’s down to about 50 per cent of that original figure.

Kenney says the bill is also part of a broader initiative to reduce duplication and unnecessary rules across government, in the non-profit sector, and for municipalities.