....but infra-structure deteriorates and future users pay the price.
The politics of water
If Canadians want to see how not to provide water to their communities they should look to the unmitigated disaster of water conservation and distribution in Britain, where water supply is privatized (No Such Thing As Free Water – editorial, July 21). Large Crown utilities have the financial and operational capability of piping water across large distances, like the oil companies do, but small private companies charge usurious transport rates to pipe in and purify the water in order to generate sufficient income to pay their shareholders.
Robert Tarplett, West Vancouver
Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz is correct in using the word “confusing” to capture his plans for water services in that city (Winnipeggers Battle City Proposal To Privatize Water System - July 20). The city’s nearly 100-page business plan charts a course for an unprecedented private-sector involvement in $650-million in wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
This capital work should appropriately be carried out by the private sector. But to let them finance it over 30 years, when the difference between public- and private-sector borrowing cost is at a historical high, is both a misguided and expensive policy decision.
Handing these firms up to a 49-per-cent equity stake in these public assets is wrong, and the key reason public opinion is at odds with where city council appears to be heading.
Paul Moist, national president, Canadian Union of Public Employees
1 comment:
sorta like, keep the taxes low, = happy voters.
But then we end up with ballooning deficits, and having to pay anyway because now the interest payments are skyrocketing.
The tory way of doing things. It worked so well for mulroney too...
Canada's new, newer, newest government. getting things back on track to where we were in 93 with Mulroney.
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