Canada Ping!
Posted on 04/24/2015 5:42:35 AM PDT by markomalley
With this being budget week, the federal government’s taxing and spending decisions are under the microscope — as they should be in a healthy democracy. But what about government’s hidden tax: regulation? With no equivalent of a federal budget day, regulatory decisions and their implications get precious little scrutiny and we are all worse for it.
Thankfully, regulatory transparency got a considerable boost Thursday when the Red Tape Reduction Act (C-21) received Royal Assent and became law. Minister Tony Clement, who has championed the bill, can be proud that Canada is now the first country in the world to require that for every new regulation introduced one of equivalent burden must be removed.
C-21, has been operating as policy for several years already, which means that the costs of new rules must be quantified and equal or greater costs removed. It essentially caps the cost of rules coming directly from regulations. Government rules can also come from legislation and policy so the one-for-one rule is not a cap on the cost of all government rules. Still, it is a very good start.
Why is this so important? Regulation, both necessary and unnecessary (red tape), are a huge hidden tax on all Canadians. The latest estimate from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business suggests that regulation costs $37 billion a year. To be clear, not all of these costs could or should be eliminated. But Canada’s small business owners suggest that about 30 per cent of these costs, $11 billion, could be eliminated with no negative impact on human health, safety or the environment. This number seems reasonable given that British Columbia has reduced its regulatory requirements over the past decade by over 40 per cent with no one arguing the cuts had any serious negative impacts.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.financialpost.com ...
What a concept...
I’ve always bristled at the way legislator’s call themselves “law makers”; we have enough laws, legislators need to weed out the worst laws and get rid of them.
Royal assent? The queen has to approve? I thought Canada was separate from England?
The Kings and Queens of Canada: The Crown in Canadian History
Canada Ping!
So the queen of England is also the queen of Canada? I didn’t know Canada had a queen.
Oh, Dear Leader! We must prevent a Red Tape Reduction gap!
The clever Canadians are planning to leave us buried in red tape, while they dominate North American markets!
If only we could start the XL pipeline, and just a handful of gas liquefaction plants for export.
That would show them!!!
Correct. Canada has been functionally independent since 1929, and officially independent since 1982 when the power to amend the Constitution was patriated from the British parliament. The abdication if Edward VIII and ascension of George VI required Ottawa’s approval.
Oh my!
Who knew?
Have driven from suburban Chicongo up the Al Can to Alaska and also up to the east coast.
Everyone so nice and polite!
Now the secret is out!
They are just biding time, until they take over!
Oh my!
The same is true of certain other countries, such as Australia and Jamaica. Most of them are around the Caribbean or in the part of the world often called Oceania.
America does, too. Richard Simmons.
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