Paperweight Awards (2) and Dishonourable Mentions (3) are some of the "prizes" awarded by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) at the close of its fifth annual Red Tape Awareness WeekTM to ministries not sufficiently attuned to the need to make life easier for SMEs. This is a highly visible way of drawing attention to worst cases of red tape, where administrations have cooked "ridiculous rules" imposing extra burden on small business. Most cases seem to be a knee-jerk reaction to a real issue such as fraud where the whole business sector is punished for the disdemeanour of a few truants, or the slopiness of the rule, where other solutions may have been just as effective, but at the cost of some extra work for the public agencies. It is difficult to say whether this "naming and shaming" technique is effective, but it has the merit of sending a strong signal that consultation on a review of the rules is necessary.
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