For the fifth year in a row the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has given Newfoundland and Labrador an F on its Red Tape Report Card.

That’s a failing grade for every year that the Andrew Furey administration has been in power.

This is Red Tape Reduction Week for the CFIB.

The last year the province received anything above an F grade was in 2020 when NL received a D, when Dwight Ball was premier.

PC Leader Tony Wakeham says multiple years of failing grades tells him that government “isn’t paying attention” to this area.

He calls red tape reduction a “key piece” of how government builds the economy and how businesses get built from the ground up.

While the F grade has remained for several years, the province’s standing began to dwindle about a decade ago.

The province held a steady B grade for the first three years the report card was issued, from 2011-2013, but it slipped to a C+ in 2014, gradually going down to a D by 2019.

The province wasn’t graded in 2016 due to the change in power from a PC government to the Liberals.

The CFIB does note, however, that past grades aren’t fully comparable due to changes in criteria over the years.

Government, meanwhile, says it’s disappointed that the CFIB report did not recognize NL’s new business navigator service to help businesses move through regulations and approval processes.

The Department of Digital Government and Service NL says the new service, which is similar to that offered in other parts of Atlantic Canada, has been met with a positive response from chambers of commerce, boards of trade and others.

The province has also established harmonized regulatory standards with other jurisdictions when it comes to occupational health and safety, construction cods and technical safety trades, and replaced what it says were outdated paper-based processes with online applications for licensing and other services.

Those with suggestions on how to further reduce red tape are encouraged to email government at: redtapereduction@gov.nl.ca