PPP, Your self
Is there a pattern here?
First the Olympic Village and now the Port Mann Bridge.
Turns out the private company that is supposed to be in partnership with Kevin Falcon and the Provincial government to twin the mighty bridge, turns out they may just be running short of bucks.
So, guess what?
I know, you fingered it out, didn't you?
We - that is you and me who pay taxes on everything - we will provide the Macquarie Group a loan for one third the costs of this little project.
Heck, that's only hundreds of millions of dollars.
Now that budgets and deficits and bailouts are routinely quoted in billions and trillions of mind-numbing dollars, what's a paltry $700 Million tween friends and buds?
Gordon Campbell, more than any other public figure I can think of, has trumpeted for years now the glories of P3's or Public-Private Partnerships or, as I like to call them, PPPs or Pee,Pee, Pees.
Nice idea in a bread box somewhere in a kitchen long ago and far away maybe.
But here in the real world what keeps happening to these mighty alliances over and over again with frightening regularity is that the Private guys run mysteriously out of juice and we the taxpayers rush in to save the day. How nice of us.
Minister Falcon assures us - and don't we feel assured by his assurance? - that alles is gut because the tolls will pay for the bridge.
Uh-huh.
10 comments:
The twinned Port Mann will cut down on traffic congestion...because no one in their right mind would pay $3 to cross it unless absolutely necessary.
$3 bucks each way! ..... OUCHHHHH!!!!
Where did all the Gas Tax money the GVRD has been collecting for the past 30 years go?... hmmmmmmmmm, I guess we know how they're going to pay those deadbeats at Transclunk $300K per year.
Just like the tolls/fares are going to pay for the Canada Line?
There is nothing 'fair' about the 'toll' this is taking on our ever shrinking incomes - and democracy in BC.
This blatant disregard for citizens is criminal.
The Fraser bridge was built in the early 80's for $100 millon with money raised from BC bonds.
There was no PPP and the bridge was completed in a year.
With inflation, a similar bridge today should cost $400 million.
Why is the proposed Port Mann crossing twice as expensive and should'nt costs go down in a recession?
As for tolls, all major crossings in Greater Vancouver should be tolled $2 one way travelling towards the city centre, and free returning to the burbs.
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays should be free.
With 500,000 commuters such a toll would amount to $250 million per year for Translink's budget shortfall.
Anonymous said...
Just like the tolls/fares are going to pay for the Canada Line?
There is nothing 'fair' about the 'toll' this is taking on our ever shrinking incomes - and democracy in BC.
This blatant disregard for citizens is criminal.
You're right - so why are the Campbell Liberals 14 points ahead in the polls? What are the questions being asked?
This is certainly a curious P-3 as the “The Province of BC will act as banker to the group of developers who want to twin the Port Mann Bridge.
Victoria will lend the consortium of developers a third of the money needed to twin the bridge and widen part of Highway 1.”
Certainly this is how the RAV/Canada line scam worked. Banks would not fund the metro lemon so the province hires out the money to the construction consortium and prays to god nothing goes wrong.
In a true P-3, the consortium building the projects hires money from independent banks to fund the project. The banks do an independent review of the scheme and if the scheme is viable the money is lent. If the banks say that the projects is not viable: > no loan > no project.
This is supposed to protect the taxpayer.
Not so in BC, where Campbell & Co. act as bankers, leaving the taxpayer with all the risk - not the developer! If the developer runs into problems he can walk away with no financial penalty, leaving the province to bear the brunt of the default!
In BC P-3 means piss poor ponzi scheme.
The PPP deal is like me borrowing money so I can lend it to someone with no credit so they can afford to buy my house and rent it back to me at ever escalating rents.
Brilliant. Thank you Gordon.
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/
Read this article and have a really good cry.
How many BILLIONS of Dollars has the GVRD collected in GAS TAXES over the past 30 years? ... probably enough to build 10 or 20 Port Mann Bridges ... where the hell did all that money go? ... and where is it still going?
I was surprised to learn this project will cost 1.5 Billion dollars.
What would this bridge cost if it were not a public private partnership?
Put the project to tender to several private companies without any stupid partnership and it will surely be less than half the cost.
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