P3 privatization is a scam.
I reported yesterday about Edmonton taking back public control of the Valley Line from its private operator, TransEd.
We don't have all the details of the contract, but listen to what city manager Eddie Robar has said. He says that we're making this change for purely financial reasons.
And the city confirms it will be paying a fee to break the contract with TransEd, who was supposed to run the line until 2050.
But he also said we'll be able to recover our spend on what it cost us to remove from the contract within the first two years.
The cost of private operation is so excessive that the savings from bringing the line in-house will pay for the entire 30-year contract break in just two years.
That's absurd.
How we got here
The only reason we're in this mess at all is because Stephen Harper's government made federal infrastructure funding contingent on those projects being delivered through P3s.
Everyone involved knew that carving up a public transit system and handing bits and pieces to private operators would never lead to a high-quality integrated network.
P3s are fundamentally flawed for public transportation projects.
But Harper demanded privatization, and we are all still paying for it.
When you demand that public services generate private profit, you're just adding unnecessary middle men and unnecessary costs.
If you want Edmonton to trim the fat, well, this is a big juicy piece.
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