Morris MLA Shannon Martin has been tapped to Co-Chair the province's new Red Tape Reduction Task Force. The 14-member group made up of government MLAs and external stakeholders will also be led by Carmele Peter, president of Winnipeg-based Exchange Income Corporation. Martin says he is honoured to serve in this capacity, noting red tape is something he encountered frequently before being elected to the Manitoba Legislature.

This task force will identify regulatory requirements detrimental to the competitiveness of business or that degrade the quality and availability of public services. Impacted stakeholders will also be engaged to identify solutions that will remove these barriers and eliminate unnecessary red tape.

Martin says at first glance this job can seem a bit overwhelming. "The idea is like how do you eat an elephant? It can seem like a daunting task at first but you do it one bite at a time."

The task force will initially focus its efforts on four specific industries through several sub-committees including government MLAs and external stakeholders with expertise in those areas. The sub-committees are as follows:
- agriculture and food processing:  Blair Yakimoski, MLA for Transcona, Marilyn Braun-Pollon and Dan Sierens;
- transportation:  Greg Nesbitt, MLA for Riding Mountain, Wade Linden and Don Struebrt;
- non-profits:  Janice Morley-Lecomte, MLA for Seine River, Vera Goussaert and Alan Goodz; and
- land development:  Jeff Wharton, MLA for Gimli, Henry Borger and Martin Harder.

"So we will be out there making contact and having public meetings with the key stakeholders whether they be businesses, whether they be non-profits, individuals and as well as any associations that may be a part of those sectors too," explains Martin.

He adds the task force isn't just looking at certain forms associated with red tape but will also examine how the process can be improved.

Martin explains this may be a case of some regulations being poorly written and are simply a matter of clarification.

"You'll interpret one way and I"ll interpret a different way and it's up to that business (owner) to figure out which interpretation she or he likes."

He adds some regulations may also be out-dated.

"It might say...all your security tapes have to stored on Beta. Well, nobody's had Beta in a hundred years kinda thing but nobody's bothered to update the regulations. It's quite shocking sometimes when you hear those stories about the examples that just leave you scratching your head."

And for other regulations, Martin says it may just be a matter of getting rid of them altogether.

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Manitoba is ranked last in the country in measurements of regulatory accountability.

Consultations will begin in January 2017 and recommendations and an action plan will be developed in the spring of 2017 with full implementation is anticipated by May 2018.

"Reducing red tape is part of our government's plan to strengthen and rebuild the economy," said Finance Minister Cameron Friesen.  "We are committed to making Manitoba the most improved province for regulatory accountability by 2020."