Privatization, P3s & public services

Sticker Shock: The impending cost of BC Hydro’s shift to private power developers – Ten years on

Nov 24, 2017
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In April 2007, the BC government’s energy policy was rapidly transforming the province’s electricity system from publicly owned to one operated in the interests of private energy developers and multinational energy corporations. Sticker Shock was written to expose the enormous costs of the BC government’s private power agenda. It documented the fact that the BC… View Article

Ten tax myths revisited: 20th Anniversary retrospective

Oct 6, 2017
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In October 1999, I wrote the report Ten Tax Myths. Any retrospective on this issue must examine the relationship between research and analysis and the question of political agency. We know that no matter how good the research and analysis, unless there is a change agent to use it, the work sits frustratingly on the… View Article

The enormous cost of public-private partnerships

Aug 3, 2017
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Three recent BC public private partnership (P3) hospitals developed in co-operation with the province’s Partnerships BC (PBC) will cost the public $260 million more than traditionally delivered projects, according to figures released in July in response to a Freedom of Information request.1 The three projects were the BC Children’s and BC Women’s Redevelopment Project Phase… View Article

Manitoba opens door to public sector secrecy as Ottawa calls for increase in P3 projects

Mar 22, 2017
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Wednesday’s federal Budget reaffirms the Canadian Government’s commitment to its promised “Canada Infrastructure Bank.” This opens the door to having corporations deliver public infrastructure through public private partnerships which is a controversial move. In the words of one writer: In other words, public-private partnerships are sort of like credit cards: You get the shiny thing… View Article

Trump and Trudeau are gunning to massively privatize infrastructure – and it’s going to cost you

Jan 10, 2017
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As with most of Donald Trump’s policy ideas, details are still sparse on his plan for rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. But two main pillars of the plan, outlined during the election campaign, stand out. First, he’s talking a big game – a proposed $1 trillion in infrastructure investment to be “spurred” over 10 years. Second—and… View Article

The biggest source of waste in Canadian health care? The private, for-profit sector

Nov 21, 2016
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Brian Day’s legal battle against universal public health care in Canada is now before the BC Supreme Court. Day—along with other would-be profit-makers—are hawking unprecedented privatization as the solution to challenges in Canada’s health care system. But two crucial facts are often missed in debates about public vs. private health care. First, Canada already leaves… View Article

Massey Bridge P3 borrowing costs yet another problem

Oct 14, 2016
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As more information becomes available about the controversial $3.5-billion, 10-lane Massey Bridge project, concern about the project increases. Issues had already been raised about the cost and need for the project given questions about traffic growth, but the publication of two new documents raises concerns about the plan to build the bridge as a public private… View Article

For-profit care of seniors proven to be inferior

Oct 11, 2016
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Vancouver Coastal Health recently announced it will close two publicly owned and operated residential care facilities in Sechelt. The creation of 600 new beds will be contracted to private for-profit facilities. The decision to go with private for-profit beds contradicts the scientific evidence about ownership and residential care quality. We reviewed the link between ownership… View Article

The international trend to public energy

Jun 28, 2016
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The most Canadians probably know about the new mayor of London, England is that he is the city’s first Muslim mayor and that one of his first public actions was to scrap with Donald Trump over the Donald’s promise to block Muslims from entering the United States. But there are a lot more interesting things going… View Article