Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results — Continued

Goal 5: British Columbians participate and excel in sport and culture.

Winning the Olympic bid has placed a new profile on the province's sport and physical activity endeavours. There will be renewed appetite for achieving excellence in sport in British Columbia. In addition, the arts and cultural sector is a rapidly growing component of the provincial economy. This goal focuses on increasing participation in sports, and the development of arts and culture.

Objective 5.1:

British Columbians participate in physical activity and British Columbian athletes excel.

Physical activity is a key component of health and quality of life for British Columbia's citizens. Increased participation in physical activity is encouraged through a number of strategies, most of which are undertaken in cooperation with a number of other agencies.

Strategies:

1. Active Schools, Active Communities — develop and implement components of the Active Schools, Active Communities, and Organized Sport Action plans.

2. Athletes Training — facilitate the provision of regional and provincial level training and services to athletes.

Objective 5.2:

British Columbia's cultural sector contributes to quality of life and economic development of communities.

Cultural activity is one of the key pillars of a healthy community and an active cultural sector is part of a creative, information-based society. The Ministry develops and administers policies that support the arts and cultural sector, in addition to supporting the BC Arts Council and Legacies Now.

Strategies:

1. British Columbia Arts Council — undertake program review to identify program and funding priorities for the British Columbia Arts Council.

2. Sustainable Arts and Culture — develop and administer policies that encourage the development of a sustainable arts and culture sector, for example supporting the development of the Centre for Not-for-Profit Sustainability.

3. Competitiveness of Cultural Industries — develop options to improve the competitiveness of provincial cultural industries, for example developing a strategy for the sound recording industry.

Deregulation

The Ministry has been a leader in achieving Government's deregulation commitment. As of December 31, 2003, the Ministry had achieved a 31 per cent net reduction from its baseline of 2,329 regulatory requirements, far exceeding the Ministry's initial 12 per cent target for 2002/03. The Ministry's 2003/04 – 2005/06 service plan incorporates this result into revised targets leading to a net reduction of 35 per cent in 2004/05.

Since June 2001, along with streamlining and expanding small business access to capital through the Small Business Venture Capital Act, the Ministry eliminated 800 unnecessary regulations through the repeal of outdated or obsolete legislation (Small Business Development Act; Special Enterprise Zone and Tax Relief Act; Industrial Development Incentive Act; Natural Resource Community Fund Act; the Job Protection Act; and the Northern Development Act).

Government-Wide Deregulation

As of December 31, 2003, the Government had reached over 50 per cent of its final deregulation target, with a reduction of approximately 90,000 unnecessary regulatory requirements.  This achievement, under British Columbia's innovative and comprehensive deregulation framework, reinforces that British Columbia is regulating sensibly and thoughtfully, and encourages prosperity, innovation and enterprise across the Province.

British Columbia is unique in imposing rigorous performance standards with tough measurable targets for regulatory reform that will promote smart, effective and efficient regulation. Top priorities are regulations with the most direct impact on competitiveness. Major strides have been made in the areas of employment standards, liquor control and licensing, land use management, and the resource sectors, including the oil and gas sector. Many of the changes exemplify the shift towards results-based regulation that will encourage innovation and competitiveness. All ministries and agencies across Government are striving for smarter regulation and streamlining to make it easier for all British Columbians to interact with Government, and help create new opportunities in all economic sectors across the Province, particularly in the Heartlands.

Enterprise-Wide Risk Management

The government is implementing a comprehensive Enterprise-wide Risk Management (ERM) process to assist ministries in achieving their strategic goals. In order to build ERM capacity across the Ministry, all executive members, directors and managers will have been provided ERM training by March 31, 2004.