March 12, 2024
Manitoba Government Introduces Measures that would Reduce Red Tape
– – –Government to Repeal Burdensome Legislation, Make Government Work Better for Manitobans: Wiebe
The Manitoba government is repealing the Regulatory Accountability Act and introducing the regulatory accountability reporting act, which would replace the previous act, with a greater focus on ensuring government works for Manitoba families, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe announced today.
“Current legislation, enacted by the previous government, created significant red tape within government and government agencies, which wasted time and tax dollars as a result,” said Wiebe. “This proposed legislation would promote effective regulatory and administrative initiatives that serve the needs of Manitobans, instead of focusing on measuring numbers and percentages that waste time and produce meaningless results.”
The Regulatory Accountability Act, which was enacted in 2017, will be repealed. Under that act, government departments and agencies were expected to maintain a count of their regulatory requirements and ensure the number of those requirements did not increase. The minister noted that the previous government dedicated an entire department to counting regulatory requirements, which created more red tape.
“The previous government left Manitoba with a cumbersome regulatory accountability process.” added Wiebe. “The proposed amendments would streamline the internal process to be more effective, allowing the public service to focus on serving Manitobans.”
A 2023 review of the act recommended consideration be given to replacing the focus on counting numbers with a focus on assessing public policy outcomes.
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