CANADA

Thumbs down… to Industry Canada for promoting PPPs in public infrastructure. The ministry’s steering committee on public private infrastructure is a who’s who of Canadian privatization advocates.

Thumbs down… to Finance Minister Paul Martin for stating he’s all for the privatization of "everything except health care."

Thumbs down… to the federal government for allowing federal program spending to drop to the level it was in 1950.

Thumbs down… to Health Canada and the federal government for being asleep at the switch while Medicare crumbles. The government must heed the Auditor General’s wake up call.

Thumbs down… to Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew for not doing more to protect Canada’s health care and education from corporate predators at the World Trade Organization.

Thumbs down… to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for its "International Business Strategy" designed to promote American investment in Canada’s health care sector. DFAIT is helping Canadian investors find opportunities in US health care, while at the same time identifying what they call "strategic alliances" for companies looking to buy control of Canada’s health care.

Thumbs down… to the federal government for its massive cuts to (Un)Employment Insurance, a move which downloads the cost of unemployment onto individual workers — in particular women. This is an insidious form of privatization.

Thumbs up…. to the auditors general nation-wide who keep a close eye on how public funds are spent. They’re soft on ‘Alternative Service Delivery’, but their scrutiny of the financial and accountability pitfalls surrounding privatization schemes, including P3s, provides valuable ammunition to expose the risks.