On the regulation side, being the chair of the paper burden committee within Industry Canada, we've set out some guidelines. Our report hasn't been released yet—hopefully it will be released soon—but with our report on the regulatory side, we've come down to saying, as we've done so many times, here are the principles that need to be followed, which were started by your government of the day and which I hope, and am pretty sure, will be continued by your government.
First, you've got to measure the regulatory burden; you've got to measure and understand the extent of it. We've said that it's costing the economy $33 billion. Is that acceptable? And then you say, no, it's not, so you set targets.
Next, you have to institutionalize the measurement and reporting of it. We can't have just one office and a committee chair saying quickly, these are the things you should do, and then we list five quick hits. It's like weed whacking; you knock down a few weeds, but 10 more grow up over here. You need to have a concerted effort.
Third, you should be a role model and you start it off yourself. Provinces are already doing some stuff: B.C. reduced the regulatory requirements—not regulations, but the number of steps—by 40%, and they're measuring it, and they're committed to continuing to do it.
We've got a list of 10 things here, but you need commitment from the top; you need commitment right from the top and from all parties.
I think this is a very doable, winnable issue. It takes some time, but it's also about giving the perception to people that it's improving, that the climate is improving, that you're committed and that it's a concerted effort.
Imagine not having an ongoing budget process. Some municipalities have a budget bigger than that of P.E.I., bigger than that of some provinces, and they don't have a budget process. It sounds ludicrous. Well, I'm saying, we don't have a regulatory review process and it's just as ludicrous. I think we have to start setting that up and doing a report on a regular basis.
Someone else was talking about labour issues, and that's another hot issue--