The Red Tape Commission was a Canadian body created by the Progressive Conservative government in Ontario in 1996 to deal with the 1995 election commitment to reduce

red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to g ...

(excessive bureaucracy and regulation) for small businesses and individuals and to promote business planning within the broader public sector. It consisted of seven Progressive Conservative Members of Provincial Parliament and six staff members drawn from the Ontario civil service. In addition to annual reviews of all regulations administered by every Ministry of the government, the Commission also initiated specific policy reviews, such as a "Highway Incident Management Study" in 2002, which sought to develop better co-ordination of emergency services dealing with highway accidents. Originally established as a temporary body, the Commission was re-constituted in 2000 as a permanent body, co-chaired by

Frank Sheehan Francis Xavier Sheehan (1933 – December 17, 2013) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999. Background Sheehan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degre ...

and Bob Woods. In early 2001,

Steve Gilchrist Steve Gilchrist (born July 7, 1954) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet ...

replaced Bob Woods as co-chair. In December 2003, the newly elected Liberal government discontinued the Commission.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20081212174715/http://www.nupge.ca/news_2000/News%20May/n26my00d.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20081013023350/http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/publications/Press/default.asp * http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/media/2002/bk-pbowen.html {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061220010422/http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/media/2002/bk-pbowen.html , date=2006-12-20 Political history of Ontario