“Crowns are not going to be privatized and subsidiaries are not going to be wound down... Our party will not do anything that that will be destructive to the long-term viability of the Crowns.” - Brad Wall (09/08/2007)
"Offering medical services such as an MRI for a fee "seems to be outside the Canada Health Act," and is area where the government doesn't want to tread." - Brad Wall (02/15/2008)
“We will not privatize existing government-owned liquor stores.” - Brad Wall (10/25/2013)
Public services and privatization
Canada is only months away from legalizing and regulating the production, sale and use of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes. Yet, as we explore in our cover story this issue, the plan is rife with contradictions: a fledgling industry populated by former police chiefs; the fact bills C-45 and C-46 will create dozens of new pot-related offences in the process of removing some of the old ones; the continued prohibition on growing more than four or five plants at home while Canada's "licensed producers" are expected to make billions.
Carillion, a major global player in the promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) has gone into liquidation in the UK. The collapse of this massive company is a case study of all that is wrong with P3s as an approach to building and operating public infrastructure. Carillion sponsored and financed over 60 P3s but more importantly provided the facility management services for them once construction was completed. It was the second largest builder in the UK. It also held many government outsourcing contracts and undertook project financing as well as construction.
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press Saturday Nov 4, 2017
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 6, 2017
On May 2, 2017 the Province’s news release announced it would be putting out a request for proposals (RFP) for Public Private Partnerships (P3s) to build four new schools in Manitoba. The Premier claims that the P3 model has worked out well across Canada.
It is becoming far too common. Many of us have a parent, relative or neighbour who has struggled to get the home support they need. Perhaps they have even waited in hospital because residential care or rehabilitation services were not available.
Home and community care services in BC—home health care, assisted living and residential care—require urgent attention. For the past 16 years, underfunding, privatization and fragmentation of the system have left many seniors, their families and communities patching together care and even going without.
This report shows that increasing access to home and community care doesn’t just benefit seniors, it is widely acknowledged as key for reducing hospital overcrowding and surgical wait times.
Despite the BC government’s recent $500 million injection of funding into the home and community care system, much remains to be done to provide adequate care for seniors and improve health care wait times for all British Columbians, says a new report released today.
During the 2015 federal election, the Liberals promised to establish a federal infrastructure bank to provide low-cost financing to municipalities. However, in the Fall Economic Statement, they proposed that it rely largely on private institutional finance. The federal budget, to be released on March 22, is expected to provide more details of the government's plans in this area.