(Halifax) – The president of CUPE Nova Scotia says, “The MacDonald government’s plans to start using P3s again should give Nova Scotians the final reason they need to change governments as quickly as possible.”
“This announcement from the throne speech tells us that this government learned nothing from the P3 schools fiasco. Contrary to what the name implies, these are not partnerships – only the private partners benefit with windfall profits, while taxpayers get let holding the bag,” says Danny Cavanagh.
“The fact that they’re even considering P3 hospitals should scare the heck out of people. Ontario has witnessed huge cost overruns on three P3 hospitals it just completed,” he says.
“Ironically, Halifax Regional Municipality just this month celebrated the opening of a new sewage treatment plant that was publicly financed and will be publicly operated, which came in under budget and on time,” says Cavanagh.
“Rodney MacDonald is being sucked in again by Stephen Harper, this time with his so-called ‘Building Canada’ infrastructure program which includes a requirement to consider P3s for all projects with over a $50 million federal contribution,” he says.
“After the P3 schools debacle, Nova Scotians do not want another public private partnership that is going to fleece taxpayers with inflated prices, while lining the pockets of some big corporation,” says Cavanagh.