Residents nominated Smithers for the Candian Federation of Independent Businesses paperweight award for the third year in a row.
CFIB gives the award every year to a town with the most red tap for local businesses.
Vice President of CFIB for BC and Alberta, Richard Truscott said the town has a recurring issue, first enforcing the bylaw a private business, the Child Development Centre in 2017, and most recently the hospitals CT machine.
“The award highlights the problems, to be on this list is not a badge of honour, and the town would be wise to fix that bylaw,” said Truscott.
With the CT machine council did decide to wave the bylaw for the hospital renovation after community backlash.
Mayor of Smithers Taylor Bachrach says it’s disappointing the CFIB keeps singling out the community as being deficient.
“Smithers has a thriving business community and some of the best municipal infrastructure in Northern BC and I think that shows that what this community has been doing for the past three or four decades has been working,” said Bachrach.
People can vote for the worst town bylaws across the country on the CFIB website.