Thumbs upto PEI Premier Pat Binns, for publicly opposing private, for-profit health care. We did consider, when making the decision to go ahead with the new Prince County Hospital in Summerside, a 3P approach, Binns recently told the media. We looked at all the pros and cons and we rejected it. We just felt that it wasnt going to work as well as a publicly-funded, publicly-administered hospital system. We visited it, we looked at it and we said no.
Thumbs downto the City of Charlottetown, for blurring the lines of accountability around a new rink and pool complex. The city is paying $6.8 million for construction, and will let a non-profit, volunteer organization own and operate the new facility. While the city foots the bill and assumes all the financial risks, in the end it will own nothing. There is no guarantee that if the volunteer organization, Capital Area Recreation Inc. (CARI), dissolves, the facility will return to city ownership. A private corporation could buy the facility directly from CARI, hence getting a facility built, paid for and maintained with public dollars. The facility is being built on prime, undeveloped downtown real estate, making the temptation to sell it off very real indeed.
Thumbs upto the City of Charlottetown, for choosing the public route to renew its drinking water infrastructure. After two boil-water orders, the city has decided to replace old wells even faster, assuring safe, clean drinking water for residents. The $2 million project was originally planned over five years.