We are now facing two closely related threats. The economic crisis created by Trump and the climate crisis.
There are some concerning similarities between Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government.
Both governments. Recently passed pieces of legislation with almost the same name, Ford’s Bill 5 and Carney’s Bill C5. Both in the name of fighting Trump.
These Bills give both governments the power to bypass environmental assessments, and labor legislation when it comes to infrastructure projects, trampling on democratic rights, particularly First Nations agreements and rights.
However, the most concerning similarity is the creation of P3 (Public Private Partnership) infrastructure banks. Trudeau created the national P3 infrastructure bank in 2017 and Ford created his P3 infrastructure bank in November of 2023.
Given the dismal record of public asset privatization around the world, why would both governments create and continue to promote P3 banks to finance infrastructure.
There are three kinds of privatization. First is the outright sale of a public asset or service. The second is leasing public assets to the private sector. The third and most insidious form of privatization are Public Private Partnerships known as P3’s.
P3’s should really be called P12’s. Public Relations and Publicity Ploys to Pretty up Profit and Pursue, Policies of Peril to People on the Planet, for all Posterity.
P3’s just sells the myth that somehow free money is to be had.
The privatization of long-term care homes where many died from neglect during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of Hwy 407 and Hydro One has left the people of Ontario with no appetite for any more privatization of public assets. The privatization of Connaught Labs by former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the 1980s also hurt us severely during the pandemic.
In the UK, the privatization of rail, electricity and water as well as the P3 privatization of hospitals along with Brexit has made the Uk’s economy a complete disaster. New Zealand and Australia also had expensive experiences with P3 privatizations in school and hospital construction.
The most famous privatization gone bad was in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. When water was privatized, martial law was declared there. After two popular uprisings, water was put back under public control. In Europe after privatization failed, by 2010 most water and electricity facilities leased or sold to the private sector were brought back under public control.
With the world on fire most people would agree that the climate crisis cannot be ignored any longer. Green power and new electrical infrastructure are going to be a critical part of the climate change fight.
In 1905 Public Power was implemented in the province of Ontario with the motto “power at cost for the people.” The rest of the country quickly copied that model, making Canada’s economy very successful. The people are ready and more than willing to fight climate change if they do not get gouged. Creating a public green power company is not a radical idea. Around the world a number of countries have recognized the fact that a transition over to green energy won’t happen under a for-profit system and have created public green power companies. Most of Europe has introduced public green power companies. So has Australia. In May 2023, even that bastion of capitalism New York State created a public green power company.
Corporations including the big banks are currently enjoying record profits while at the same time have made a sport out of avoiding taxes and since 1980 have had their tax rate cut by 50 per cent.
Governments did not privatize public assets during the First or Second World Wars or the Great Depression. They wisely kept those public assets. We worked our way out of those terrible times with a robust public sector and non-profit public enterprise. To fight Trump and the climate crisis that is what we must do now. Part of the fight must be making record profit making corporations pay their fair share in taxes.
Greed is fuelling Both Donald Trump and the climate crisis. History has repeatedly shown, facilitating more greed with both Bill 5’s and P3 privatizations is not going to save us.
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