Move Forward Quickly on Regulatory Reform, Business Leaders Urge Federal Government

September 23, 2004

Canada’s business leaders today praised the recommendations of the External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation and urged the federal government to move forward quickly with a comprehensive plan to reform Canada’s regulatory processes.

“To compete and win internationally, Canada requires a regulatory structure that is simpler, faster, more transparent and more predictable. The committee has provided the government with a superb blueprint, laying out clear and sensible recommendations that deserve prompt action. The needs are pressing and the benefits are obvious,” said Thomas d’Aquino, President and Chief Executive of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE).

“Smart regulation improves the protection of people and the environment while enabling companies to move faster in making investments and creating jobs.  It is good for the economy and good for communities.  Perhaps most important at a time of rising demand for public services such as health care, smarter regulation would make a real difference in spurring innovation and improving Canada’s competitiveness without adding to the burden on taxpayers,” Mr. d’Aquino added.

Speaking on behalf of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian enterprises, Mr. d’Aquino supported the committee’s call for development of a new federal regulatory policy by September 2005 and creation of multi-stakeholder “swat teams” by December 2004 to identify regulatory issues that can be addressed immediately in priority sectors of the economy.

Mr. d’Aquino highlighted three of the report’s recommendations as especially deserving of early action:improving international cooperation by treating regulatory policy as a fundamental element of Canada’s foreign policy and working toward single review and approval within North America; eliminating small but costly regulatory differences between Canada and the United States; and working with provincial governments to create a national approach and possibly a single agency for environmental assessments.

“The task now is to turn this valuable report into a series of concrete actions that increase the effectiveness of current regulations while ensuring a government-wide commitment to ongoing regulatory reform,” Mr. d’Aquino said. “The desire to foster better regulation and improved results for Canadians should be an objective that cuts across party lines. Implementing these sound recommendations should be a priority for the upcoming parliamentary session.”

The CCCE is a non-partisan organization committed to helping make Canada the best place in the world in which to live, to work, to invest and to grow. Member CEOs lead companies that collectively administer in excess of $2.3 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of close to $600 billion and account for a significant majority of Canada’s private sector investment, exports, training and research and development.

In addition to Mr. d’Aquino, the members of the CCCE’s Executive Committee are: Chairman Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc.; Honorary Chairman A. Charles Baillie; and Vice-Chairmen Dominic D’Alessandro, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Jacques Lamarre, Gwyn Morgan and Gordon Nixon, the chief executives respectively of Manulife Financial, Power Corporation of Canada, SNC-LAVALIN Group Inc., EnCana Corporation and Royal Bank of Canada.