Winner of the ‘Golden Scissors’ award to be announced January 22
Toronto, January 15, 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 the Golden Scissors Award which honors an elected official or others in government who have shown leadership and delivered meaningful results in cutting red tape for small business. Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government. The winner of the 2016 Golden Scissors Award will be unveiled on Friday, January 22.
CFIB is pleased to announce that the Ontario finalist for the 2016 Golden Scissors Award is the Hon. Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.
“Minister Duguid’s nomination reflects his strong leadership, commitment and measurable action taken to reduce the impact of the province’s regulatory system on small business,” said Plamen Petkov, CFIB’s Ontario Vice President. “Since 2011, the Minister has championed red tape reduction initiatives, leading to the recently passed Burden Reduction Reporting Act; as recommended by CFIB.”
This legislation mandates annual reporting on the government’s red tape reduction initiatives and makes current and future governments more transparent by holding them accountable for the regulatory burden that they place on small business.
Other specific initiatives taken under Minister Duguid’s leadership have resulted in the streamlining of government procurement processes, a 60 per cent reduction in the paperwork required for a workers’ compensation claim, the amendment of regulatory policy to ensure the regular review of high-impact regulations, and the implementation of the regulatory feedback form, through which business owners can inquire about or provide feedback on regulations.
“All of these measures have helped to advance red tape reform in the province of Ontario. CFIB remains committed to continue its work with Minister Duguid and the provincial government in cutting the cost of excessive regulatory burden on small businesses,” concluded Petkov.
For more 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 across every sector and region.