While giving businesses increased access to information that can help them is fine, the province needs to do more to streamline and simplify business-related regulations and codes, said the chair of Mountain View County's economic development committee.
David Doyle, who is also the general manager of Netook Construction, a heavy equipment contractor based in Olds, said from his business's perspective, new online support for Alberta's businesses announced last month is a step in the right direction.
“There are definitely some things where we have questions and we go looking for it and it's extremely challenging to find answers,” said Doyle.
Thomas Lukaszuk, Alberta's deputy premier and enterprise minister, unveiled a new government webpage on Feb. 25 designed to make information on services and regulations affecting provincial businesses more accessible.
The webpage puts services such as Business Link, which offers free or low-cost business seminars for business startups, Productivity Alberta, which offers business-related tools and resources, and BizPaL, an online licence and permit service, all in one website while also providing a link to a webpage listing all 1,100 government regulations.
The new service is partially based on recommendations from the provincial Red Tape Reduction Task Force, which held discussions with Alberta's small business leaders and organizations in 2011 and 2012 “to improve the regulatory environment in which small business in Alberta operates.”
Although Doyle applauds the government for addressing the task force's suggestion that the province needs to do a better job listening to the needs of small businesses, he said better access to information isn't one of the main concerns of small businesses in rural areas such as Mountain View County, especially those with small staffs that can't spend time or resources seeking out business-related information online.
“The real focus is on the day-to-day operations in the field. You're not so worried about government regulations.”
Instead, he said, the government should focus on cutting down on the number of regulatory hoops small businesses need to jump through and making information on regulations, codes and permits easily available when a business is getting off the ground.
“It'd be nice if they just had it streamlined. Simplify it,” Doyle said. “Rather than having 500 broad sets of rules and it depends on whether you're in oil and gas or agriculture, let's just have one set of rules that applies to everyone.
“If they want to help small business and educate them, it would be nice if when you're applying for a small business loan or when you're doing things, if there was a link that has a Section 101 on labour code in Alberta; so you understand the labour laws; these are the basic rules and regulations you have to follow for occupational health and safety. So then you get the tools and you can dive into it depending on which industry you're in.”
Right now, many small business owners in the county only learn about what regulations, rules or codes they need to follow after an audit or if they are penalized for operating outside the province's regulatory framework, Doyle said.
He added that should regulations that affect small businesses change, the government should look at launching an email alert system to notify businesses about the changes.
Overall, Doyle said, whether or not information on regulations or other services is easily accessible, the information needs to be clarified and made “easier for the average Albertan to understand.”
“None of it is in simple language.”
Mountain View County Reeve Bruce Beattie said the province's new online support will at least make it easier for businesses seeking grants to find the necessary forms and qualifications.
“If they can make it more accessible and those programs more accessible, it seems to me that's going to save small businesses money.”
As for the need for streamlining, Beattie said he's aware many levels of government are reviewing regulatory processes “but it's still an incredible spider web” that must be cleaned up.
“Regulations expire after five years and they need to be renewed or reviewed and that creates a lot of work for a lot of people.”
"Rather than having 500 broad sets of rules and it depends on whether you're in oil and gas or agriculture, let's just have one set of rules that applies to everyone."David Doyle, Mountain View County economic develop
