Ontario’s SuperBuild sell-off

The Ontario government is off-loading its responsibility for funding the construction and renovation of schools, hospitals, roads and water systems. The province is relying on its so-called SuperBuild Growth Fund to meet infrastructure needs through public private partnerships.

Having reduced its revenues by billions through tax cuts, the government now admits it doesn’t have the funds needed to renew public infrastructure. So it has created the SuperBuild fund to attract private capital to underwrite part of the required investment. The $20 billion blend of government and private sector money is supposed to help meet the estimated $88 billion in public infrastructure needs over the next five years.

In promoting the fund, Ontario finance minister Ernie Eves cited New Brunswick’s public private partnering, even though a P3 school and jail in the province have failed spectacularly, costing $1.3 million more to build through ‘partnerships’.

Eves is ignoring the alternatives to private sector investment and the sell-off of public services. Governments could invest more of their budget surplus in capital investments. They could maintain taxes rather than cutting them. Or they could issue bonds for capital spending, taking advantage of their favourable credit rating — superior to that of any private company — to raise investment dollars more cheaply than corporations.

The Ontario government’s failure to explore public alternatives will have serious consequences for public services and those who use them.