Tories bring back P3 projects
Despite promise to end public-private partnerships
BRIAN FLINN
The Daily News
The Tory government will partner with private companies to build new roads and public buildings, perhaps including hospitals.
The government's throne speech, read yesterday by Lt.-Gov. Mayann Francis, says the province needs public-private partnerships to overcome an $8 billion infrastructure deficit. It cited the Cobequid Pass and the East Coast Forensic Hospital as examples of how that can work.
The Conservatives promised to end P3 contracts when they were first elected eight years ago.
"Nova Scotia has learned from the mistakes of the P3 schools of the 1990s," Francis read. "Instead, our government will build responsibly, with a transparent financial process, the infrastructure needed for communities and people."
Transportation Minister Murray Scott said that does not mean more toll roads, at least not under the kind of arrangement that built the toll section of Highway 104.
"I think the toll highway in this province was not acceptable to Nova Scotians. That message was sent loud and clear," he said. "If there's another way to do a partnership that's more acceptable to Nova Scotians, then I want to look at all those."
He said P3 deals that built schools in the 1990s did not give communities enough access to the new buildings.
The private sector could also play a greater role in health care. The government will "allow publicly funded, private facilities to play a clearly defined role in providing access to certain and proscribed health services."
Premier Rodney MacDonald said he's committed to upholding the Canada Health Act. The province already works with private companies such as Emergency Health Services, without compromising universal access.
"Could it mean a new hospital at some point in time? Certainly," he said. "That is a potential for a strategic infrastructure partnership."
NDP Leader Darrell Dexter said he's concerned government will compromise universal health care. He said past P3 projects have cost taxpayers a lot more money, with dubious results.
The throne speech promised to twin highways from Yarmouth to Sydney by 2020. Dexter said it's ridiculous for the government to make that kind of promise.
"These guys aren't going to be around in 2020," Dexter said. "They'll be lucky to be around in 2008."
The speech spells out five government priorities, the same number Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced this fall.
"Everything this premier has done has been mirroring Stephen Harper," Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said. "This is the Mini Me, I guess, of Stephen Harper, here in Nova Scotia."
The speech briefly mentioned the government's bill to eliminate health- care strikes. Both the NDP and Liberals plan to vote against it.
McNeil and Dexter said they will have to defeat the government if the throne speech comes to a vote. But the premier said he doesn't plan to ask the legislature to approve his plans.
bflinn@hfxnews.ca
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