Prince George, B.C- One of the most progressive ideas to kick start the economy is the idea of reducing the duplication of the regulatory process. Premier Gordon Campbell says it makes no sense for an environmental review to satisfy Provincial regulations only to be repeated to satisfy Federal rules. “One country, one review” says the Premier. 

 

Reducing the regulatory process also reduces time for companies hoping to get their operations up and running within certain windows. It would help in securing finances as lenders would see that the light is at the end of a shortened tunnel.

 

Federal Minister of State (Sport) Gary Lunn echoes the belief the process must be shortened “We need to get down to  a single process, I am not talking about compromising the process, in fact I think that with a single review it would see increased focus. A single review is crucial especially in a province such as B.C. with so many natural resources.

 

Premier Gordon Campbell says there is likely to be real action on the streamlining of the review process now “Because of the uncertainty it creates, because of the risks that it adds to these projects and because of the jobs that it jeopardizes when you add three and four and five reviews. That’s putting a job a way off and I think all of us want to get jobs happening now. We want the jobs in 2009 which is going to be a very tough economic year, we want to build then through 2009 and 2010 and we can come out the other side of this even stronger if we invest smart now, and that’s what we intend to do.”