Winner of the annual ‘Paperweight Award’ to be announced January 20th
Regina, January 14, 2016 – In the lead-up to Red Tape Awareness Week™ (January 18-22), the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has announced the finalists for its Paperweight Award, which is given annually to government agencies and departments that are holding back small businesses with misguided rules, hard-to-follow processes and bad customer service.
This year’s examples largely represent ‘specific irritants’ that are costing small businesses both time and money. “These smaller red tape problems should be the easiest for governments to fix,” said Satinder Chera, vice president at CFIB. “We’re often asked by politicians for specific examples of red tape they can deal with. Now we’ll see if they walk their talk.”
“For the second time, the requirement to get a permit to swap a statutory holiday from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Labor Relations & Workplace Safety is a finalist for CFIB’s Paperweight award. The first time was in 2014,” added Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB’s vice-president, Prairie & Agri-business.
In Saskatchewan, if an employee wants to observe a public holiday on a different day, the employer needs to apply for a special permit from the Ministry of Labor Relations and Workplace Safety. “In other provinces, the employee and manager can simply agree to swap days. That’s why it’s time for the Ministry to use common sense and scrap this dumb rule.”
Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government. The winner of the 2016 Paperweight Award will be announced on Wednesday, January 20th.
The finalists are:
Manitoba Ministry of Finance
Manitoba business owners with more than one business can be subject to higher tax rates, but have no way of telling the Ministry until tax season if they sell their business mid-year. Meaning some businesses continue to pay more tax than they need to for up to a year.
Stewardship Ontario
Small manufacturers and importers in Ontario have to report on product packaging and printed paper. Some are exempt, but have no way of knowing until they fill out a long, poorly designed online form. Instead of stating the exemptions up front, the form simply stops working, and instructs users to call the agency for clarification.
Halifax Regional Municipality
New ‘patio’ regulations forced two restaurants to pay more than a thousand dollars to change the layout of their patios, which had already been approved by the City.
Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Contractors were forced to wait eight months for a building permit to construct a wharf in Lunenburg County thanks to confusion between the regional DNR office in Lunenburg and the head office in Halifax. The wait-time far exceeded the 45-day turnaround advertised on the department’s website and forced the company to lay off its employees.
Revenue Quebec
Construction companies and employment agencies must obtain Revenue Quebec certification to show clients they have paid their taxes. The client then has to take that same certification back to Revenue Quebec – the very same agency that issued the certification in the first place – and have them verify that the certification is legitimate.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Labor Relations and Workplace Safety
If an employee wants to observe a public holiday on a different day, the employer needs to apply for a special permit from the Ministry of Labor Relations and Workplace Safety. In other provinces, the employee and manager can simply agree to swap days.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
The CBSA dropped the small business section from their website without warning, leaving small businesses without access to government trade-related information tailored to small importers. While saying it’s only temporary, no timeline has been given by the CBSA for restoring the information.
Port Metro Vancouver (Fraser Valley Port Authority)
The port authority implemented new rules, which essentially excludes businesses with fewer than five trucks from accessing the port. Along with enormous fee increases, these changes have disqualified 600 trucks from working at the port. All of which was done without proper consultation.
Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Service Canada
Lack of communication between these federal departments forced a Temporary Foreign Worker in Nova Scotia out of his job with a small business, and nearly resulted in his deportation.
Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
A Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) looking to enter the trucking sector needs a work permit to get a driver’s licence. But, to get a driver’s licence from ICBC, the TFW requires – you guessed it – a work permit from the CBSA.
Government red tape is a hidden tax that affects Canada’s small businesses much more than larger firms. The annual cost of all regulations on businesses in Canada is pegged at $37 billion per year, with one-third of that ($11 billion) considered red tape.
To arrange an interview with Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB’s Vice-President Prairie & Agri Business, please call (306) 757-0000, 1-888-234-2232 or email mssask@cfib.ca. You may follow CFIB Saskatchewan on Twitter @cfibsk.
For further information please contact Ryan Mallough at 416-222-8022 or public.affairs@cfib.ca.
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members (5,250 in Saskatchewan) across every sector and region.
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