The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) held its third annual Red Tape Awareness Week from Jan.16 to 20.
Promoting awareness and challenging all levels of government in Canada to tackle the burden of red tape on small businesses, the CFIB highlighted the extent of the problem and attempted to provide solutions by releasing a series of digital videos.
The Red Tape Digital Diaries chronicled the frustrations of small business owners including farmers.
Laura Jones, CFIBís senior vice president, said ìred tape is like death by a thousand paper cuts. Itís a cost that leaves hundreds of thousands of small business owners frustrated.î
Jones went on to say outdated government regulations and paperwork costs Canadians nearly $30 billion every year.
CFIB research revealed farmers in Canada are hit the hardest by the red tape. In fact, a survey showed that 23 per cent of farmers say that if they had known about the burden of regulations, they may not have gone into business.
Farmers list a number of regulations and agencies they have to deal with including land use restrictions and by-laws, product labelling, traceability and age verification requirements, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Statistics Canada and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
CFIBís research showed that more Canadian farmers want government to cut red tape than want tax relief.
My dad, a longtime farmer who is forced to work full-time outside of the home to make a living, is one of them.
An entrepreneurial spirit and love for the land and lifestyle have kept him working for 58 years.
Although he has short periods of profitability, overall he has struggled. Dad, a fiscal conservative, blames all levels of government for his difficulties.
His solution is to have government ìbutt out.î Even the governmentís attempts at subsidizing farmers to help them break even are bothersome to my father.
In fact, he says that subsidy programs often push small farmers closer to the brink.
Why? Red tape.
Dad says every year, he is responsible for researching what grants are available and filling in hours of paperwork, often for naught.
Dad has stories about filling out stacks of paperwork only to be turned down by the subsidizing agency for a clerical mistake.
He has mostly given up because, for him, the hours spent researching grants, compiling information and applying are not worth it. Dad says it is often easier to ìjust spend a couple more hours working overtimeî at his plumbing job.
For large operations, filling out the paperwork is often worth it, because their reward is far greater for the same amount of time invested. Getting $5 a head for 40 cows is very different than amount a farmer with thousands of animals would get.
Those large feedlots can often afford managers to work with the livestock, allowing owners to spend the time in the office wading through red tape.
Dadís views arenít uncommon, I hear the same story almost every time I talk to local producers.
It is getting harder and harder to be a farmer in Canada and despite the government rhetoric declaring the need to keep the family farm alive, not a lot is being done to make it easier for the ìlittleî guy.
Dad is nearing retirement and although he is an excellent farmer who keeps up on all the new technologies and attempts to be a good steward of the land, he is contemplating giving up cattle.
After 40 years of sacrifice, hard work and loss, he just canít continue to work a full-time job then come home and do two hours of chores. He will give up his dream and Alberta will lose another hardworking, smart farmer.
I hope Canadian governments get the message being presented by the CFIB. For small businesses it is critical
