Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to speak this evening about the government plans to amend the Red Tape Reduction Act.
The Red Tape Reduction Act establishes a one-for-one rule to control the amount of administrative burden that is imposed on business through Government of Canada regulations. Whenever a new or amended regulation is brought forward by a department, it must take out an equal value of administrative burden and must also remove a regulatory title.
To date, we have seen a net reduction of 123 regulations and $30.1 million in annual administrative burden.
At present, the Red Tape Reduction Act only applies to Canadian federal regulations. The government's proposed amendments will allow Canadian departments to reduce the administrative burden on Canadian businesses resulting from the regulatory measures of other countries, such as the United States, as part of an official cooperative initiative for regulatory reduction.
For example, we have formal regulatory cooperation relations with the United States and the European Union. The goal is to incentivize Canadian departments to work more closely with their counterparts of these countries to reduce the regulatory burden that can adversely affect international trade.
I will stop there and take any questions that you may have.