Bill No. 4 - Corporations Registration Act. - Second Reading

MR. SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Dartmouth South.

MS. CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, I'll keep it very short on this one. As my colleague said, it's hard to argue with making things a little bit easier for businesses so, by all means, I think reducing red tape - reducing the cost to incorporate - is a good thing. I think it's a little disheartening that this is Bill No. 4 of this Session of the Nova Scotia Legislature when I think of the issues facing Nova Scotia; reducing the incorporation fee by a couple of hundred dollars is not right at the top of the list, but it's there somewhere, I guess, or it would be if I thought really, really hard about what was important.

I guess I don't have much more to say at this point, but I will say that I think some of the commentators got it right, and what I read in some of the commentary which was cited by the minister and by my colleague - and these are people who are supportive of the changes - was that, essentially, this sends a signal. It's a positive signal. It's likely not going to result in any more businesses of any size opening or any jobs particularly being created, but it sends a signal that the government is supportive of business and is looking to reduce red tape. So, on that count, bully for you and great, but I look forward to what I know will be swift passage of this bill so we can get on to more important things.