TORONTO (September 29, 1998) 004300680061llenging the sales job by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and ex-premier Frank McKenna, the president of Canada’s largest union has released a report showing that “public private partnerships” are bad for citizens and taxpayers.
Judy Darcy, National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, criticized “public private partnerships” (PPPs) as the new face of privatization, endangering the quality of essential public services such as water, health care, education and transportation.
“Ex-premier McKenna should know better than most what a dismal failure PPPs have been,” said Darcy. “Because when Mr. McKenna was premier of New Brunswick he initiated several PPPs that failed, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and undermining the quality of public services.”
CUPE released its research paper Behind the Pretty Packaging 004500780070osing Public Private Partnerships today in Toronto to highlight the many dangers inherent in “public private partnerships” (PPPs).
This report contains polling data confirming that Canadians are suspicious of PPPs.
“There are many reasons why Canadians oppose PPP’s. First and foremost are concerns about quality, access and safety,” said Darcy. “Public private partnerships are promoted as an innovative approach to the delivery of public services. The private sector claims they can deliver public services more efficiently and at less cost to the taxpayer.
“This is completely untrue. These schemes do not reduce costs. In fact, they end up costing taxpayers more while cutting services and fudging accountability.
“The real objective of the private sector in taking over public services is to secure a very profitable monopoly for themselves,” added Darcy. “CUPE is committed to the provision of quality public services. For this to happen, governments must make a commitment to proper funding and staffing. Handing over lucrative contracts to their friends in the private sector won’t create jobs or improve quality,” concluded Darcy.
The Report Behind the Pretty Packaging 004500780070osing Public Private Partnerships can be accessed through the CUPE Web site. See Fighting Privatization on the home page (www.cupe.ca)
For more information please contact:
John McCracken 0028003400316) 292-3999
Robert Lamoureux 0028003400316) 727-9144
Catherine Louli 0028003600313) 237-1590
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