Atlantic quartet looks to cut red tape for small businesses

MONCTON, N.B. — Ministers and officials from the four Atlantic provinces recently sat down with industry representatives in Moncton to discuss reforming regulations for small and medium-sized business.

The roundtable discussion is an initiative of the Council of Atlantic Premiers, designed to identify how provincial regulations can be streamlined to reduce the burden on business.

“While government regulation is necessary to protect the health and safety of Atlantic Canadians, we must continually look at ways to reduce red tape for our thousands of small and medium-sized businesses,” said Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne. “Our government’s goal of self-sufficiency depends on their success, and this roundtable is another way we are responding to their needs.”

One of the goals, said Nova Scotia Treasury and Policy Board Chair Angus MacIsaac, is to reduce the paperwork burden for businesses in his province by 20 percent over the next three years, “making the province an easier place to do business.”

“The objective is to work with industry to evaluate governments’ regulatory process,” said Prince Edward Island MLA Wayne Collins. “However, in order to streamline regulations for small and medium-sized businesses, we need to have an open line of communication between government and industry.”

The information provided by stakeholders will allow Atlantic ministers responsible for regulatory reform to assess where opportunities may exist to collaborate on improvements to regulations governing small and medium-sized business within each province or across Atlantic Canada.