Several groups have spoken out against using the P3 model for the hospital expansion.
The province announced today they’re planning to spend $2 billion rebuilding and expanding parts of the QE II Health Services Centre.
Christine Saulnier, director of the Halifax branch of the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives, authored a report on P3 model schools in 2016.
She found them to be riskier than government-led initiatives and says the schools wound up costing more in the long run.
Saulnier was suprised by the province’s decision to move forward this way on QE II.
“We see many, many issues that crop up with a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability and so Nova Scotians at the end of the day often don’t get the infrastructure we wanted in the first place.”
Saulnier says there aren’t really any examples of a successful P3 model in Nova Scotia.
“The proponents of P3 have yet to prove that this model is the model that is cost effective and moreover the model that will provide us with what we need at the end of the day in terms of public infrastructure.”
The Nova Scotia New Democrats also released a statement on the province’s plans to go with the P3 model.
NDP leader Gary Burrill says “the evidence from Nova Scotia and across the country is that public-private partnerships have higher costs than a traditional build.”
“Here in Nova Scotia, the Liberal government just had to spend $228 million to buy 39 schools that had been built as P3s,” says Burrill. “That money went to a handful of private companies instead of creating valuable public infrastructure.”
Burrill pointed to a 2014 report where former Deputy Minister of Health Peter Vaughn stated it was “difficult to find examples of successful P3s where there are no criticisms.”
When asked whether the province has an example of a P3 model they are following, Minister of Health and Wellness Randy Delorey didn’t give a specific one but says there aren’t any Nova Scotian projects comparable to the hospital project because of it scale.
Delorey cited a report done by Deloitte that compared government-led projects with the P3 model.
“The analysis really looks at not just a model versus another model, it was looking in a Nova Scotia context as well and past projects managed by government internally and other models that worked with the private sector to do that work … and it was determined this would be providing the best value for Nova Scotians and increasing the probability of finishing successfully on time and on budget,” says Delorey.
We requested a copy of the report, which the province has not released.
In an email, a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Wellness said “it is normal practice not to release the business case (Deloitte Report) prior to the closing of the RFP as it could negatively impact our competitive procurement process.”
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca
