Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak to members about an important aspect of Bill S-2, the incorporation by reference in regulations act.
I would first like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade for describing me as passionate about regulatory burdens on our small businesses. I take great relish in discussing these issues because ultimately our government is pursuing growth. It is looking to increase jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for Canada. Part of that does fall on issues such as the regulatory burden.
In particular, I would like to address how incorporation by reference in regulations can assist regulators in designing regulatory schemes that ensure access to the expertise of the leading standards development bodies in Canada and all across the world.
As we know, Bill S-2 would amend the Statutory Instruments Act to make it clear in law when the drafting technique of incorporation by reference can be used in federal regulation. Incorporation by reference allows material to be referenced and then incorporated into the regulation without reproducing the same material.
We have heard today that there are two different sorts of incorporation by reference. One is called open or ambulatory and the other is called closed or static. When incorporation by reference is ambulatory, the reference material forms part of the regulation as it is amended from time to time. When this material is incorporated on a static basis, then only the version as it exists on that particular day is incorporated, unless the regulation is amended.
I would like to take a step back because we have heard some opposition members raise concerns about when open or ambulatory or when closed or static would be used. Bill S-2 applies a whole-of-government approach to when open or closed would be used. Therefore, it would bring more clarity to those of us here in this place as to when the government would use one or the other and sets out the conditions of that.
This drafting technique offers many different advantages. For example, it reduces needless duplication or repetition of material such as provincial legislation when the federal and provincial legislative regimes need to be harmonized. Incorporation by reference can be an effective way to collaborate with other jurisdictions.
The particular advantage I would like to draw the attention of the House to today is that the drafting technique is an effective tool to allow government to access the vast expertise developed in Canada and around the world in a multitude of areas that affect our economy and our daily lives.
When Parliament confers the power to make regulations, parliamentarians expect that the regulator will have the capacity to respond to diverse, complex and evolving challenges in areas where regulations have been developed. Consider the complexity of the areas in which regulations must now be developed. A few examples are electric vehicles, cloud computing, leading-edge medical devices and nanotechnology. Federal regulators must be able to respond in an effective and efficient way to meet the demands of regulating these complex innovations and sectors.
Access to the technique of incorporation by reference is one way to respond quickly and effectively to constantly evolving areas. By enacting this legislation Parliament would provide regulators with an express legal foundation, allowing them to incorporate by reference national and international standards that are developed by expert bodies. While these standards are only one of the types of documents that would be authorized for incorporation by reference by this legal proposal, they merit some special attention.
There are many standards that are already incorporated by reference in the federal regulations, including standards written by the International Organization for Standardization and other well-recognized international standards organizations. A recent review of existing references in federal regulations revealed almost 400 references to these standards established by these expert bodies.
I am proud to say that Canada is one of the countries that is at the forefront of standards development. There are hundreds of standards developed in Canada as part of the national standards system in Canada and then incorporated into federal and provincial regulations, such as standards developed by organizations such as the Canadian General Standards Board, and that which is most likely the most recognized name, the Canadian Standards Association Group.
Standards developed by these organizations have already become key to the way that sectors are regulated in Canada. There are over 275 different standards produced by the Canadian Standards Association alone that are referenced in federal regulations. Added together, there are already more than 800 references in federal regulations to various types of standards, both internationally developed and developed as part of our national standards system. These are important components that help assist Canadian businesses and Canadians in how they conduct their daily business.
This legislation seeks to confirm that regulators can continue to rely on the standards in implementing their regulatory initiatives in an effective manner by allowing ambulatory incorporation by reference of such documents.
The incorporation of standards by reference allows the government to draw on the national and international expertise. It allows government to effectively rely on the work being done by external expert bodies, to which the government has often contributed based on its own expertise. In many cases effective, responsive regulation demands that when changes are made to these standards, regulators must respond immediately. Ambulatory incorporation by reference is the most effective way to achieve this.
When a standard is incorporated in the regulation on an ambulatory basis, it means that when a standard body updates a standard to respond to a new technology, new approaches or new innovations in the area, the changes are automatically made to the standard and are automatically incorporated into the regulation. The regulatory text does not have to be amended.
We have one of the best regulatory systems. It is very stable. It involves regulatory impact assessment statements justifying in common language why a regulation needs to be put in place. It includes open comment by the public in almost all but emergency situations. Then a second part of it is that the government will come back and say what it heard and its reasons for moving forward with the regulation. I am very proud to stand here as a parliamentarian and talk about our regulatory regime. However, it does take time for these processes to take place.
Why is it essential to incorporate by reference standards as they are amended from time to time? I would just give these three good reasons: expertise, responsiveness, and of course efficiency. First, the ability to adopt standards as part of federal regulations when it is appropriate allows the government to access technical expertise right across Canada and right around the world. Second, the ambulatory incorporation of these standards ensures that when changes are made by these expert bodies, federal regulators are immediately responsive through the ambulatory process. That is a significant advantage that I do not think we can overlook. Third, reliance on standards development organizations of this nature allows for the efficient use of government resources. It would neither be expected nor efficient for the government to attempt to develop and house the wide range of expertise found in these committees that develop standards here in Canada and right across the world.
To conclude, enactment of this legislation is a necessary next step to securing access to valuable technical expertise developed here in Canada and around the world. I invite members to support this legislative proposal, because at the end of the day, we need to make sure we have an efficient, very effective way of ensuring whatever laws we pass in this place are done in such a way that the people we are working for, everyday Canadians, whether in their business or their homes, can know that the Canadian government is providing what Parliament has intended. Part of that is making sure we have a responsive regulatory regime.