January 28th, 2013
One of the more low profile initiatives of the Conservative government has been The Red Tape Reduction Action Plan, a plan to make regulations work better and simpler for all involved.
These reforms (which encompass more than 90 department-specific changes) target three main areas: reducing administrative burden on business; making it easier to do business with regulators and improving service and predictability.
One example of how this initiative is working for Canadians is the changes to the Food and Drug regulations. New changes to these regulations will allow provincially regulated pharmacy technicians to transfer prescriptions to another pharmacy.
This reform will benefit more than 15,000 pharmacists across Canada and is expected to save pharmacies about $8.7 million a year in administrative costs. Along with improved and quicker service for patients, this change will cut costs at the same time.
I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can reach my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133. Feel free to drop by my two offices for a visit: Saskatoon (Monday to Friday) or Humboldt (Tuesday and Wednesday). I always appreciate your feedback.
January 21st, 2013
Having grown up in Saskatchewan as a member of a family farm, one of the issues that was a constant on coffee row was: What to do with the Canadian Wheat Board? With last year`s changes to make the CWB a voluntary organization, wheat farmers are adjusting to the new changes. And it`s a fair question to ask: How they are doing?
“According to a recent poll conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of BASF Canada Inc., 85% of growers in Western Canada believe the new environment for marketing wheat is beneficial to their business.”
This fits with what I’ve been hearing from constituents and family members who are still involved in farming. The new marketing system for wheat may not be perfect for everyone, but one of Saskatchewan`s longest political debates is over–and almost everyone seems to be looking forward to the new opportunities wheat farmers now have.
January 14th, 2013
Railways are important to Saskatchewan’s economy; agriculture, and mining in particular. But as long as we’ve had railroads, we’ve had disputes between shippers and the railways that serve them.
That’s why the Government has introduced the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, which will give shippers the right to service agreements with railways. It also creates an arbitration process to establish an agreement when commercial negotiations fail.
This bill will help shippers maintain and grow their businesses while ensuring that railways can manage an efficient shipping network for everyone.
The new process will create a strong incentive for shippers and railways to negotiate service agreements. If these negotiations are not successful, shippers will be able to trigger a fast and efficient arbitration process with the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Railways are vital to Saskatchewan and Canada. It’s important that they run smoothly.
