Private service, public cost: Canadians confront rising user fees

They’re one of the hidden costs of privatization. User fees — individuals and families paying for access to a service that once was freely available — are a common feature of many privatization schemes. The government retreat from funding and delivery of public services has created a new regime, where services once universally funded by taxes and other public revenues are no longer low-cost or free. While many privatized services still receive public funds, private management often levies new fees to supplement that revenue and maximize returns.

Riding shotgun on the privatization bandwagon is the push to cut taxes. The tax cut agenda has a flip side that rarely gets equal prominence: tax cuts mean service cuts. The link is clear and direct. Under these circumstances, user fees for health care, education and social services represent another form of privatization, as individual funding replaces universal, public funding. For decades, taxes have funded a broad range of services and protections that most working people could never afford if they had to pay for them directly on the private market. Privatization threatens to end that security.

Canadian families shoulder a growing burden for services they depend on. Our country’s public services have long provided a standard of living recognized as among the best in the world — until now. Privatization means Canadians may no longer enjoy the benefits of public services unless they can afford to pay for them. Access to services is particularly threatened for seniors and low-income families already struggling to meet their needs. Forcing families to dip into their savings, go into debt or go without necessary services, is the inevitable result of user fees for public services.