Speak Out Against Smart Regulations: Nov. 14 Moncton : IMC Maritimes

Speak Out Against Smart Regulations
Monday, November 14, Moncton, (Delta Beausejour Hotel)

The Federal government is developing a new approach to regulating health, safety and the
environment. This new approach will give deeper consideration to business interests when creating new regulations or reviewing existing ones. They are
holding hearings across Canada, with the first hearing to be held in Moncton on Monday
November 14th.
Let's give them a true New Brunswick welcome. Please come out to this
event and let
the government of Canada know that you want the government to regulate
in the public
interest and that you will not stand by and let business interests
weaken health,
safety and environmental regulations.

For more information, I have attached a background paper below. You
should visit
http://www.regulation.gc.ca to obtain a draft copy of the Federal Directive
on Regulating and other regulation on smart regulation.

Thanks for your interest,

David Coon
Conservation Council of New Brunswick

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Backgrounder
Public Hearings on Smart Regulation to be Held Across Canada

In response to concerted effort from the corporate sector reduce its
costs of complying
with regulations designed to protect the health, safety and environment
of Canadians,
the federal government is renewing it approach to regulating in the
public interest.
Canada’s largest corporations want environmental, health and safety
standards and rules
that reflect business realities by minimizing their costs. They also
want to be let
into the policy and regulation-making process of government.

Business and government refer to this private-public partnership in
policy and
regulation-making as “smart regulation.” In effect, the “Government
Directive on
Regulating” deepens the tangle of red tape that Ministers and
government departments
must negotiate to act in the public interest.

“Smart Regulation” has been described as the most significant factor to
change the face
of Canadian legislation since Confederation.

The Privy Council Office is holding eight public hearings across the
country to solicit
public input into their proposed directive on regulating. The hearings
begin on
November 14th in Moncton and wrap up on November 28 in Vancouver.

The proposed “Government Directive on Regulating” will direct federal
government
departments on the process they must follow and the criteria they must
consider when
developing and reviewing regulations under the Acts of Parliament for
which they are
responsible. This draft policy directive for government can be
downloaded from
http://www.regulation.gc.ca. To embed the corporate sector into the
policy-making process the
federal government is creating business sector sustainability tables
co-chaired by
senior public servants and senior business executives. To date,
sustainability tables
for the energy, forestry, mining and energy industries have been
established.

Objectives: If the “Government Directive on Regulating” adopted as
proposed, government
departments will be required to ensure their legislation and
regulations support a
fair, competitive and innovative market economy - facilitating
international trade and
investment. As environmental, health and safety regulations generally
represent costs
to business, the pressure on government departments will be to minimize
the development
of new regulations, eliminate existing regulations, and water down new
regulations to
achieve business objectives.

Scope: The “Government Directive on Regulating” applies to all
government officials
involved in the federal regulatory process. The Government Directive
sets out the
responsibilities of departments and in agencies in all stages of
regulating -
development, implementation, evaluation and review of both legislation
and regulation.

Engaging Business Interests: Those who are to be regulated are to be
provided
opportunities to identify public policy issues and set objectives,
develop regulatory
options, develop compliance plans. Other interest groups will invited
to participate in
this process as well as business.

Demonstrating the Need for Government Intervention: The “Government
Directive on
Regulating” describes regulation not as government action but
government intervention -
carrying with it the connotations that regulation is interfering in the
affairs of
others (i.e. business) rather than safeguarding or advancing the public
interest.

Impacts on Trade: Departments must specify health and safety
regulations in terms of
performance so they are no more restrictive to entry into markets than
is necessary;
and give positive consideration to accepting the regulatory
requirements of the United
States and other jurisdictions if they meet Canadian objectives. In
fact, the
rationale for adopting Canadian standards over those of the US or other
jurisdictions
must be presented.

Ensuring Benefits Justify Costs: Social, environmental and economic
impacts assessments
of proposed regulations must be carried out on proposed regulations so
that government
departments can carry out cost-benefit analyses. It will be
insufficient for benefits
to simply outweigh benefits, but a proposed regulation must maximize
its overall
benefits in relation to all of the costs identified for Canadians,
business and
government.

Impacts on Competitiveness: Regulations which restrict competitiveness
of a business
sector must be limited and proportionate to the public interest that
the regulation
serves. Measures must be taken to reduce the negative impacts and
enhance the positive
impacts of regulation on competitiveness, trade and investment and the
ability of the
economy to generate jobs and wealth.

Reviewing Regulation: Departments are expected to review their
regulations support a
fair and competitive market economy that encourages, entrepreneurship,
trade,
investment and innovation.

The Tables will apply the principles of smart regulation for
environmental
sustainability. SSTs will embody the 3 characteristics of smart
regulations by
supporting:
The creation of social, economic and environmental benefits: SSTs will
inform policy
decisions to ensure that better environmental results are achieved in a
manner that
considers business realities and promotes economic competitiveness;

The improvement of the regulatory system to focus on continuous
improvement and renewal:
as an on-going forum, SSTs will be well positioned to respond to
emerging issues in
science, technology and global markets in preparing policy
recommendations, informed by
the knowledge and expertise of a broad range of informed, leading-edge
stakeholders.

The development of regulations and other outcome-oriented agreements in
a collaborative
manner: SSTs will create a collaborative mechanism to inform policy
decisions and
actions by bringing together participating governments, industry,
non-governmental
organizations and Aboriginal