Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Vanthuyne on October 14, 2016, regarding strategic economic investments, specifically the Canadian Federation of Independent Business report and how we are working to improve our score as well as reduce redundancy and improve the frontline services to small businesses.
The 2017 Red Tape Report Card published by the CFIB gives the Northwest Territories a grade "F," stating the next steps for the Government of the Northwest Territories should be to make it a priority to tackle meaningful red tape reduction.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has ongoing efforts in place to reduce the volume and impact of red tape for the NWT businesses. ITI continues to commit significant efforts to providing the BizPal program in the NWT and in 2016 welcomes the City of Yellowknife into the Program. The BizPal program is a multi-partnered online service that provides prospective business owners and entrepreneurs with one-stop access to permit licence information across Canada.
ITI remains committed to a one-window approach to service delivery and has provided significant funds to regional and community offices to assist businesses with red tape and other concerns.
ITI has invested significant efforts to reduce application paperwork. For example, the Support of Entrepreneurs and Economic Development policy applications are reduced to only two pages. Similar efforts have been made through ITI's other programs, and presently the framework is under way to make ITI program applications available online and electronically fileable.
I have recently sent a letter to the CFIB asking to meet with them to discuss how we can work together to make further improvements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Returns to oral questions. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
