January 25, 2007

Private sector touted to build Alberta schools

EDMONTON

Three Alberta cabinet ministers say they’re in favour of letting the private sector help clear the backlog of new schools needed across the province.

Infrastructure Minister Luke Ouellette says he’s very open to having private firms build schools if the public-private partnership model of financing fits.

“I think this . . . is a great model,” Ouellette said. “If (it) happens to be the best deal and can achieve what we need to achieve for all Albertans, that’s where we should be going.”

Ouellette said while he supports the idea of giving private contractors the task of building new schools, the province would have to dictate the specifications for the new schools to make sure they last for at least 25 years.

Finance Minister Lyle Oberg says the nice thing about the partnerships is that they fix the price of a project at a time when inflation is boosting costs at very rapid rate.

“The key thing here is we need some schools, we need some infrastructure,” Oberg said.

“It’s how best to put it out there so that we can shield Albertans from these escalating costs.”

Education Minister Ron Liepert was quoted recently as saying he’d like to see private contractors build schools in some new Alberta neighbourhoods.

But Liberal Leader Kevin Taft says the model is not the best option when Alberta is awash in surplus cash, because costs are often higher for taxpayers in the long run.

Darcy Lanovaz, Alberta president of Canadian Union of Public Employees, pointed to Nova Scotia’s experience with public-private partnerships as a warning.

The Maritime province turned to the approach in the 1990s, only to abandon it after costs spiralled out of control, he said.

“They were using the same rationale as Alberta, that ‘we’re really behind and we’re going to use the . . . model to speed it up,’” said Lanovaz.

But he said officials soon found the projects were $35 million over budget before completion.

CANADIAN PRESS

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