From liquor laws to remitting taxes less often, award recognizes red tape warriors
Toronto – In the lead-up to Red Tape Awareness WeekTM (January 19–23), the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has announced the finalists for its annual Golden Scissors Award.
The award honours an elected official or others in government who have shown leadership in freeing entrepreneurs from the burden of red tape. Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government. The winner of the Golden Scissors Award will be unveiled on Friday, January 23rd.
The Finalists for the 2015 Golden Scissors Award are:
| 2015 Golden Scissors Award Finalists | Red tape reduction initiative |
| Bertrand St-Arnaud, Former Quebec Minister of Justice; Gilles Ouimet, MNA for Fabre;
Michelyne St-Laurent, Former MNA for Montmorency; Rita De Santis, MNA for Bourassa-Sauvé |
As members of the Committee on Institutions, increasing access to small claims court for small businesses in Quebec |
| Hon. Brad Wall, Hon. Christy Clark, Premiers of Saskatchewan and B.C, and Hon. Dave Hancock, former Premier of Alberta | Quickly and decisively moving to harmonize rules related to first-aid kits |
| Colleen Pennington,City of Penticton Economic Development Officer ,and Anthony Haddad, Director of Development Services | Introducing a 30-day conditional business license so businesses can get started more quickly |
| Hon. Dave Chomiak, Manitoba Minister responsible for Liquor and Gaming Control | Updating liquor laws from 1956 and, in doing so, setting a gold standard for industry consultation |
| Hon. Diana Whalen, Minister of Finance, Nova Scotia | Scrapping regulations that would have put onerous administrative requirements on scrap metal dealers |
| Jean-Denis Girard, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Regulatory Streamlining and Regional Economic Development, Quebec | Creating a permanent committee on regulatory and administrative simplification |
| Hon. Don Scott, Alberta Minister of Innovation and Advanced Education | Introducing the Small Business Strategy framework, including help for entrepreneurs in navigating government services and regulatory requirements |
| Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Minister of National Revenue | Changing tax threshold rules so 50,000 businesses can remit their taxes less frequently |
| Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Minister of National Revenue and Susan Truppe, MP for London North Centre | Introducing the Liaison Officer initiative, which proactively reaches out to businesses to help avoid tax-related problems |
| His Worship, Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary | Effective measurement and reporting during the Cut Red Tape initiative |
| John Marshall, Assistant Deputy Minister (Acting), Open For Business, Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure | Reducing the amount of paperwork required to make a WSIB claim by 60%. |
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region.
