Nova Scotians paying for Liberal mistakes with P3s

Purchase of schools, while necessary, will cost taxpayers millions

HALIFAX – Today's Liberal decision to purchase 10 more public-private partnership (P3) schools is a necessary but lamentable step in a failed process that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

The purchase brings the total number of P3 schools acquired by the government to 37 (out of 39), at a cost of $215.9 million. Last fall, the Auditor General criticized the government for exercising poor judgment in its testing of the P3 model, which was introduced by a Liberal government 20 years ago.

“P3 schools have been a failed experiment in Nova Scotia,” said NDP leader Gary Burrill. “Now, the people of our province are paying for the Liberals’ mistakes. Buying the schools is the right decision, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Liberals have kept parents and communities in the dark – and it doesn’t erase the mess they have created.”

A government release says the purchase will produce “savings” and “represents the best value for Nova Scotia taxpayers.” The province has spent $700 million on P3 schools over two decades, with costs driven up by contract extensions with the companies that own the schools.

Last summer, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report showing that the P3 model was pursued for political reasons, and that there was a lack of evidence-based decision-making behind the contracts for the schools.

“Schools are central to our communities,” said NDP Education and Early Childhood Development spokesperson Claudia Chender. “They are public institutions, and they should be in public hands.”

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