Canada Cuts Down On Red Tape. Could It Work In The U.S.? 加拿大精简繁规缛章，美国行吗？ 作者：Uri Berliner @2015-7-25

译者：@苏格底柏德図         校对：晓舸 (@ShawXG)

来源：NPR

网址： http://www.npr.org/2015/05/26/409671996/canada-cuts-down-on-red-tape-could-it-work-in-the-u-s Canada says it's the first country with a law that eliminates one regulation for every new measure that's adopted. The One-for-One Rule is designed to ease the burden on businesses.

加拿大宣称自己是世界上第一个采纳“一换一”规则的国家，这项法律规则要求：每出台一项新的监管措施，必须相应的排除一条旧的。此项规则旨在减轻企业的负担。

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:   In Canada, the government has figured out a surefire way to slash red tape with a law that eliminates one regulation for every new one that's created. The One-For-One Rule was adopted last month in a nice Canadian way, without political warfare. NPR's Uri Berliner reports. 主持人， 蕾妮 · 蒙塔 ： 在加拿大，政府想出了一种削减繁杂监管规章的可靠办法，为每项新出台的监管措施削减掉一项旧的。上个月，“一换一”规则以一种加拿大人特有的优雅方式而被采纳，没有引发政治纷争。

URI BERLINER, BYLINE: The story starts in 2001 in Canada's beautiful west coast province of British Columbia. Laura Jones lives there, in Vancouver. She's with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. And she says back then, the economy of British Columbia was a mess, partly because there were so many time-consuming regulations. And she says some of them were pretty dumb. 文章署名，乌利 · 贝陵尔： 这事情始于加拿大美丽的西海岸，不列颠哥伦比亚省。劳拉·琼斯（Laura Jones）住在该省的温哥华市，就职于加拿大独立商业联盟（Canadian Federation of Independent Business）。她说，回想之前，不列颠哥伦比亚省的经济状况十分混乱，部分原因是有许多浪费时间的监管制度上。她认为其中一些监管实在愚蠢。

LAURA JONES: Forest companies were told what size nails they had to use the build a bridge. Restaurants were told what size televisions they could have in their establishments. Kids even were affected. They were being told they needed two permits to show a tadpole in their classroom at show and tell. 劳拉 · 琼斯： 林业公司必须使用规定型号的钉子来造桥。旅店必须在店内摆设规定型号的电视机。甚至连孩子也难逃影响，他们必须先取得两项许可，才能在教室里上展示讲解课的时候向同学展示蝌蚪。

BERLINER: So the incoming administration in British Columbia said enough is enough. For every new rule that becomes law, two existing ones would have to go. And Laura Jones says it's worked. In British Columbia, regulation has been reduced by 40 percent. She says small business has benefited. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 所以不列颠哥伦比亚省新上任的政府决定，真是够了，不能再这么下去了。凡是新出台法律规则，都要相应的减少两条现有规则。劳拉·琼斯说这个办法效果非常好。不列颠哥伦比亚省现在已经有40%的监管项目被取消。她表示该省的小企业已因此而受益。

JONES: And there's been very little to no outcry about cutting into rules that are important to protect human health, safety and the environment. 劳拉 · 琼斯： 然而在削减关乎人类健康、安全和环境的监管条目的事情上，总是会引来强烈抗议。

BERLINER: Eventually, British Columbia dialed it back to one for one, and that became the model for the entire country. For two years, one for one has been a federal policy, part of a broader attack on red tape. To give the effort credibility, the savings from eliminating regulations couldn't just be assumed. They had to be quantified. Tony Clement is a cabinet minister with Canada's ruling Conservative Party. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 最终，政府退而求其次，从“一换二”退至“一换一”规则，后者成了整个加拿大的榜样。经过两年之后，“一换一”已经成了一项联邦政策，这是对抗政府繁杂监管的一个重要力量。为了赋予这项规则以可信度，通过削减监管项目而节省花费这件事不能仅仅只是一个假设，它们必须得到量化。托尼·克莱门托是现执政加拿大的保守党内阁大臣。

TONY CLEMENT: We're trying to measure and benchmark our success. And in that way, it's a serious exercise, not just a - you know, a jingoistic political exercise. 托尼 · 克莱门托： 我们正在尝试度量和评测我们所取得的成功。那是一种非常认真严肃的行动，而不是那种以势压人的政治运动。

BERLINER: Clement says small businesses are logging less time on paperwork - a reduction of hundreds of thousands of hours so far. Nineteen federal regulations have been eliminated, but the law won't allow cuts to protections for health, safety and the environment. That took any ideological edge off the act. When Canada's House of Commons voted to make the policy an actual law, the bill passed overwhelmingly. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 克莱门托说，小企业浪费在文书上的时间减少了——迄今已减少了上万小时。19条联邦监管规章已经被取消，但同时法律又规定不允许削减有关保护健康、安全和环境的监管。这条规定缓解了所有意识形态上的冲突。加拿大下院对是否将“一换一”规则写入法律进行了投票，结果以压倒性多数获得通过。

I saw that the vote was 245 to one.

我看到投票结果是245比1.

CLEMENT: Yes, the Green Party was a bit skeptical. 托尼 · 克莱门托： 是的，绿党对这项措施还是有点疑虑。

BERLINER: So even the socialists backed it? 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 所以甚至社会主义者们也同意了这项政策？

CLEMENT: They did indeed. Yeah. In fact, we're having a tussle with them as we move towards our election as to who is a better spokesperson for small business in Canada. 托尼 · 克莱门托： 是的，确实。实际上，在临近选举前，我们跟他们就谁才是加拿大中小企业的更好代言人还有过一些争吵。

BERLINER: Here in the States, there is, of course, plenty of policy debate about the right level of regulation. Business groups say compliance with regulation cost the U.S. economy $2 trillion a year. Environmental, consumer and labor groups say these are mostly vital protections, and they often push for more of them. Laura Jones says that's a debate the public largely ignores. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 在美国，有很多关于政府监管强度是否合适的政治争论。工商业团体认为监管制度使得美国经济每年付出2万亿美金的代价。环境组织，消费者组织和劳工组织则表示这些监管中的大部分非常重要，他们还经常强烈要求出台更多的监管制度。劳拉·琼斯说，公众在很大程度上忽视了这些争论。

JONES: And that's what we're trying to change in Canada. And I think Canada, in this area, is ironically going to be a very good model for the U.S. 劳拉 · 琼斯： 而在加拿大，这正是我们设法改变的状况。而我觉得，在这个领域，加拿大会颇具讽刺意味地成为美国的一个好榜样。

PAUL LIGHT: I think there's a reason why we've never used it, which is that it's a most impossible to implement without offending Congress. 保罗 · 莱 特： 我认为有一个原因导致了我们一直没有采纳“一换一”这样的规则，那就是这么做无疑会触怒国会。

BERLINER: That's Paul Light. He's a professor of public service at NYU, and he's been watching efforts to pare back bureaucracy since the 1980s. He says regulations don't get created without a legitimate reason. They reflect the desires of elected leaders. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 这位是保罗·莱特（Paul Light）。他是纽约大学公共服务专业的教授，他从1980年代就开始密切关注精简官僚机构的问题。他说，监管制度不会没正当理由就被制定出来。这些监管反映了民选领导人的欲望。

LIGHT: I get the pressure from business - and small businesses, in particular - to reduce red tape. 保罗 · 莱特： 我感受到了来自企业，尤其是中小企业的，希望削减政府监管条目的压力。

BERLINER: But he says there's a better way to do it. Instead of a one-for-one swap, write smarter and more careful regulations. Uri Berliner, NPR News. 乌利 · 贝陵尔： 但是他表示还有一个更好的办法，不一定要“一换一”，我们可以制订更精巧和审慎的监管条文。

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