Ontario Chamber Response to Building Smarter Government Initiative

(Toronto, October 23, 2019) – Today, Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released the following statement in response to the Building Smarter Government Initiative launched today:

“We are pleased to see the Government of Ontario’s innovative plan to modernize and improve how it delivers programs and services in a way that is customer-centric, measures results, business-friendly, and respectful of the taxpayer.”

“Investing in Ontario through strategic spending is essential to fostering business competitiveness and job creation.”

“Approaches like the Building Smarter Government Initiative can contribute to the long-term economic growth of the province and result in healthy and productive communities.”

“While there is work underway, there remains much more to accomplish.”

“We look forward to working with government and private sector to help shape these important public policy initiatives together and put this plan into action.”

For additional details, please see key OCC advocacy areas and resources below.

Key OCC Advocacy Areas and Resources

Business Supports: Helping businesses grow

• In its Blueprint Letters to the Ontario Government, the OCC has advocated for:
  • A regulatory ‘concierge service’ to assist small businesses in understanding, navigating, and achieving compliance with regulatory requirements.
• In its Red Tape Submission to the Government of Ontario, the OCC has advocated for:
  • Harmonization of regulations to avoid excess layering. Government should review existing regulations and eliminate regulations that are redundant or in conflict across ministries, jurisdictions, and levels of government
  • Modernization of compliance systems. New approaches to compliance can create a more efficient regulatory regime that saves taxpayer dollars, ensures quality and consistency, and enhances business competitiveness.

Capital Asset Management: Building and maintaining the right infrastructure at the right time

• In its recent report The Great Mosaic – Reviving Ontario’s Regional Economies, the OCC has advocated to increase use of data in government decision-making.
• In its Blueprint Letters to the Ontario Government, the OCC has advocated for:
  • A formal policy on asset recycling. Asset recycling is a tool that could have a substantial impact on the Province’s infrastructure deficit in the context of a reduced fiscal capacity.

Supply Chain Centralization: Using public sector buying power to save money and get better results

• In 2014, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters partnered on the report Spend Smarter, Not More: Leveraging the Power of Public Procurement. This report puts forth advocacy with respect to strategic spending around procurement initiatives.
• The OCC has advocated for further SMEs participation in government procurement. The government should make use of its status as an anchor customer by better leveraging public sector procurement to strategically invest in growing businesses. For more information, see Breaking Barriers: Ontario’s Scale Up Challenge.

Digital First: Delivering simpler, faster, better services

• In its Red Tape Submission to the Government of Ontario, the OCC has advocated for:
  • An outcomes-based approach. An outcomes-based approach to regulation would allow firms to explore better ways of delivering value to the people of Ontario.
• In its Blueprint Letters to the Ontario Government, the OCC has advocated for:
  • A focus on a value-for-money in government spending that consults widely with the private sector on potential opportunities to improve the efficiency and quality of public services.
  • Taxpayers at the centre of government service delivery. Improving customer service is an important goal, one which can be achieved using a ‘client-centric’ delivery model.

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the independent, non-partisan voice of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of its network’s diverse 60,000 members.

For more information or to arrange an interview: 
Ceara Copps – Edwards
Senior Advisor, Public Affairs
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
647-936-6734
cearacoppsedwards@occ.ca