More than 140 British Columbians participated in the latest #BCBizChat Twitter town hall, hosted by Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business Naomi Yamamoto and Canadian Federation of Independent Business Executive Vice President Laura Jones.

The town hall, which was held over the lunch hour on Sept. 27, explored what government can do to cut red tape for small business. Here are some highlights from the conversation:

• 535 tweets during the conversation.
• 376,062 accounts reached by the #BCBizChat hashtag.
• 118 tweets in the days leading up to the conversation.

Why It Matters:

This Twitter town hall provided an opportunity for Yamamoto and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business to engage with B.C. business owners and employees, CFIB and Chamber of Commerce members and others from around the province to discuss: 

• Barriers to small businesses.
• Experiences and challenges with government services and processes.
• Advice on how these services and processes could be improved.
• What resources have been most helpful to them.
• How government can further support them.

Responses were insightful, inspired and enthusiastic. Key challenges for small businesses were identified during the conversation, including wait times for licencing, PST rules and remittance and the rapid introduction of minimum wage increases during recession. Many also said that red tape could be reduced through using plain language in forms and online and by continuing to work with B.C. municipalities to integrate and streamline cross-government processes.

Business services and organizations profiled in the discussion included Small Business BC, Business in Vancouver, Board of Trade and the BC Chamber of Commerce, along with many independent small-business owners.

This event supports B.C.'s Small Business Month. Participant responses will help inform government when developing programs or policy changes. Anyone who missed the live chat can still contribute their ideas and suggestions through an online survey that will be posted until midnight on Oct. 11 at http://goo.gl/dDHlbY

Quotes:

Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business -

"Twitter town halls are an amazing way to have conversations that really matter about issues British Columbians face - in this case, small business owners and operators. Government is committed to making B.C. the most small-business friendly jurisdiction in Canada, and the feedback we received through this town hall will be invaluable in identifying specific ways that we can help reduce red tape in B.C. and make it easier for businesses to operate and be successful."

CFIB executive vice president Laura Jones -

"It was exciting to kick off our reducing red tape initiative with a Twitter town hall. Small business is clear that reducing red tape helps them focus on customer service, employee training and complying with important health and safety rules. Reducing red tape is critical to the prosperity of the province. We look forward to working with Minister Yamamoto to further engage small businesses and help find five concrete ways to reduce red tape and make a difference on the ground to people running their businesses in time for CFIB's Red Tape Awareness Week in January."

Quick Facts:

• The B.C. government has successfully reduced red tape by over 42 per cent since 2001.
• Red tape is defined as burdensome, often unnecessary, government administrative processes and regulatory requirements.
• Regulatory requirements are defined as government-imposed obligations, licences and laws with which citizens and businesses must comply.
• In the past 10 years, the B.C. government has cut more than 150,000 regulatory requirements.
• Moving forward, as a part of the B.C. Small Business Accord, the government is committing to establishing a 20-per-cent increase in small business procurement from government. Greater access to procurement opportunities for small business will mean economic growth and job creation for residents and families of British Columbia.

Learn More:

Survey on reducing red tape for small business: http://goo.gl/dDHlbY

Canadian Federation of Independent Business: www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/index.html

Regulatory Reform B.C. website: www.gov.bc.ca/regulatoryreform

B.C. Small Business Accord: www.jtst.gov.bc.ca/sbaccord/

Small Business Doing Business with Government Project: www.jtst.gov.bc.ca/selltobcgov/index.htm

Contacts:

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799

Kimball Kastelen
BC Policy Analyst, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
604 639-3468