Red-tape woes remnants of Katz’s legacy

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2016 (2851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the May budget speech, the province of Manitoba announced it was implementing a red-tape reduction task force in order to cut through the needless bureaucracies that affect growth. Good thing, too, because the province was awarded the dubious honour of being the worst province for red tape — at least according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Red tape is the bane of many entrepreneurs’ existence. It slows innovation and it can be very expensive. It’s also infuriating at times because it seems so, well, illogical. A great example cited by the CFIB is the case of a temporary foreign worker in British Columbia who needed a work permit to get a driver’s licence. But to get a work permit, he needed a driver’s licence. This is the kind of stuff that makes a grown person wake up screaming in the middle of the night.

Perhaps the province can take some advice from the City of Winnipeg, which implemented its very own red-tape commission in 2005, designed to cut through bureaucracy and make it easier for businesses to operate. This was viewed as quite positive by critics and the recommendations were lauded by business groups in other municipalities as an efficient way to encourage development.

But red tape can also make sure that corners aren’t unnecessarily cut and that the integrity of public-sector spending is maintained. It’s a difficult balancing act and, sometimes, governments may swing too far in any one direction in response to previous administrations.

A case in point is the complaint from the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association about the red tape preventing roads from getting built. The association’s president, Chris Lorenc, says its members are laying off workers and having other staff quit to find employment in other provinces, as the road construction season has been very slow this year. In part, he claims city hall is to blame but says the province is also at fault.

Mr. Lorenc’s concerns echo those raised by Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, who says that while the city has approved a record $105 million for local road and street repairs this year, the contracts aren’t being awarded quickly enough. Mr. Wyatt complains that since Brian Bowman became mayor in 2014, the legal department spends far too much time reviewing everything before it can be approved.

One only has to look to the difficulties experienced by the Kilcona Park Dog Club and its sponsorship efforts. The plan seemed simple enough. The club wanted to put up poop bag dispensers with the name of the corporate sponsor. The hoops organizers had to go through in order to get those dispensers approved was ridiculous, particularly after Sponsor Winnipeg — a regulatory arm of the city — became involved on a $475 project. Club president Donna Henry was frustrated by the process.

Mr. Lorenc may also be feeling similar frustration, but given the context, it becomes clear that this is a gun-shy administration in city hall right now. Former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl was put in place by then-mayor Sam Katz as a way of getting work done at city hall. But there have been so many questions regarding projects awarded under his watch, and the budget overruns that accompanied them, that now administrators are being extra cautious.

At some point, as this administration matures and finds its footing, the pendulum may swing back toward a more timely approach to awarding contracts; but until then, the Katz hangover continues.