Prabmeet Sarkaria

Prior to his appointment to the Ontario cabinet, Sarkaria was the Chair of the Select Committee on Financial Transparency and also served on the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. He also previously served as the parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General (formerly known as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services).[9]

He stepped down as the parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General on June 20, 2019 when he was appointed to the Executive Council of Ontario as the new Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

In the post, Sarkaria led the government’s bi-annual red tape reduction packages which have become a hallmark of the Ford Government. Sarkaria twice received the grade of “A-“ in the Canadian Federation for Independent Business’s annual report card for red tape reduction, the highest grade the province has ever received. He was specifically recognized for regulatory transparency in his annual report, well as the passage of the province's red tape reduction legislation, ‘the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act, 2020’ and two regulatory modernization bills, ‘the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act’ 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Sarkaria stated that his government’s has actions has resulted a 4.2% reduction in outdated or duplicative regulations and an annual savings to business of $331 million. [10]

Sarkaria’s profile in Ontario politics significantly increased as he served as the minister responsible for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical time for small businesses throughout the country. Sarkaria became a regular at Premier Ford’s media briefings which were daily throughout most of 2020.

At the beginning of the pandemic Sarkaria launched a Tackling the Barriers portal for small businesses to suggest ideas to the province regarding changes that would help them tackle the challenges of COVID-19. [11] Ideas received, resulted in over 50 permanent and temporary changes to assist businesses, including permitting 24 hour truck deliveries to grocery stores and pharmacies, tax deferrals and most notably, permitting restaurants to offer alcohol with takeout and delivery orders. [12]

Sarkaria introduced three pieces of legislation to assist small businesses with the challenges of COVID-19 and launched two grant programs, a general up to $20,000 small business grant and a second which focused on refunding small businesses for personal protective equipment costs. [13] Sarkaria’s Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020 received significant attention as it capped fees charged by delivery apps to restaurants during the pandemic - a first in the country, which was later replicated in other provinces. [14]