When I first started building factories in Canada decades ago, the process was straightforward.

You hired qualified engineers. You prepared your plans. You brought them to City Hall. Officials reviewed them to ensure they met safety standards, and if everything was in order, the plans were stamped and approved.

It was practical. It was fast. Most importantly, it allowed people to build.

That’s how Canada grew into one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

But projects that once took weeks to approve can now take years. Even modest developments can become trapped in layers of permits, consultations, reviews, and appeals.

Over time, real governing power has shifted away from elected representatives and toward permanent administrative systems. Regulators write the rules. They interpret the rules. They enforce the rules. And unlike politicians, they are not directly accountable to voters.

When an election comes, Canadians can change governments. But they cannot easily change the bureaucratic machinery that continues operating behind the scenes.

The result is a system where decisions about what gets built, how long it takes, and whether projects move forward are increasingly controlled by administrators rather than elected leaders.

And the economic consequences are enormous.

Delayed projects mean delayed jobs. Permit uncertainty discourages investment. Housing shortages worsen because approvals move too slowly. Infrastructure projects stall. Companies simply choose to invest in faster jurisdictions.

Capital flows toward places where things can actually get built.

Administrative layers have multiplied. Compliance has become an industry. Entire sectors of our economy now exist simply to help businesses navigate regulatory complexity.

Meanwhile, the bureaucracies themselves continue to expand.

At the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, government administrators are now among the highest-paid people in our economy. They sit at the top of the pay ladder, often earning far more than private-sector workers performing comparable tasks.

They also receive the best benefits and the strongest job security.

In other words, they are receiving more rewards while taking far less risk than the entrepreneurs, workers, and investors who actually create economic growth.

That imbalance is neither healthy for the economy nor is it fair for people.

This is one of the reasons I helped launch the Canadian Economic Charter of Rights and Responsibilities.

VISIT THE CANADIAN ECONOMIC CHARTER!

The Charter is a grassroots effort to restore common-sense economic principles that once made Canada strong. At its core is a simple belief: a free society requires economic freedom.

And economic freedom requires the practical ability to build, invest, and produce.

Small enterprises and entrepreneurs should not be trapped in regulatory mazes where every productive action requires permission from multiple layers of bureaucracy.

That means putting reasonable limits on bureaucratic expansion and restoring accountability to the economic system.

Permit decisions should have firm deadlines. If governments fail to act within those timelines, approvals should move forward automatically.

Major regulations should undergo regular cost audits, so Canadians understand their real economic impact.

Rules should expire unless they are periodically renewed and justified.

And regulatory burdens should scale according to company size so that small enterprises are not crushed by requirements designed for massive corporations.

These reforms are not radical. They simply restore balance between those who build and those who administer.

There is a simple test for economic freedom: If every productive action requires layers of permission, then freedom exists only on paper.

Real economic freedom means that Canadians with ideas, skills, and determination can build something without spending years navigating a bureaucratic maze.

Bureaucratic overgrowth rarely looks dramatic. It appears as procedures, reviews, and additional forms.

It slows investment. It discourages entrepreneurship. And it gradually transfers power away from citizens and toward administrative systems that were never meant to control the pace of economic life.

Canada became prosperous because it was once a country where builders could build.

If we want to restore that prosperity, we must restore the conditions that made it possible.

Whether you're a worker, a small business owner, or just someone who cares about the future of Canada's economy, click here to learn more about the Canadian Economic Charter and to join our fight for Canada's future.

VISIT THE CANADIAN ECONOMIC CHARTER!

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