MLA Hunter announced strategies to tackle Red Tape Reduction

Grant Hunter Taber-Warner MLA

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

Alberta’s UCP Government has been in power for close to 100 days and Grant Hunter, associate minister of red tape reduction and Taber-Warner’s MLA, gave an update on progress on Aug. 12.
The Commentator caught up with Hunter at the Whitla Wind Farm tour on Aug.15.
Red Tape Reduction is about those hurdles that job creators have to jump through that are not necessary, said Hunter.
“Is the laws they created proportionate to what they’re trying to accomplish or is it an overage?,” he said.
“What happens is they’ll create a regulation and then they’ll pile another regulation on top of that and some those regulations contradict each other.”
“This is whole concept of being able to reduce red tape is about being able to help us become competitive with other jurisdictions. That’s how we get the foreign investors back again.”
Hunter outlined a couple of areas they have addressed as of late leading up the to the update.
“We’ve showcased some of the Red Tape Reductions we’ve implemented,” said Hunter.
“We also were able to showcase another Red Tape issue and that was a digital proof of insurance, so digital pink slips. People seem to be pretty excited about that. We’re glad to have been able to bring that about. I know the industry was looking to that for about five years now. Finally we were able to get that across the line.”
Hunter says one of the initiatives the government has been working on and he was excited about is where age recipients will not be required to apply once they turn 65 for an old age pension.
“They are actually rolled right over into the program so they don’t have to apply. It made life a little easier for Albertans,” he said.
The first 100 days has been like “drinking from a fire hose,” according to Hunter.
“There’s a lot going in. But how much is sticking.” he said.
“I’m actually deeply honoured to be a part of cabinet and to hope to be a part of a team that brings back the Alberta Advantage and gets Albertans back to work. We’ve had many years now of poor job growth.
“It’s exciting to be able to start implementing some of the things, especially in the Red Tape Reduction which I’ve been working on for the last three-and-a-half-years.”

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