A P3 for Champlain Bridge will explode costs — CUPE

 

The public-private partnership model preferred by the Harper government for the construction of the new Champlain bridge could double the cost of constructing it publicly, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

 

Civil engineer Rene Therrien has presented a public solution estimated at $1.7 billion in comparison to the $5 to $6 billion estimated for the P3 projects.

 

Mr. Thierren's project, detailed at http://www.solutionpontchamplain.com/ is a better solution environmentally because it will re-use the entire metallic structure of the existing bridge. Based on the construction of roadways parallel to the existing structure, it would also practically eliminate traffic tie-ups during construction.

 

"The only potential clear advantage of P3s is the sharing of economic risk," said Pierre-Guy Sylvestre, an economist in CUPE's research department. "In the case of roadway infrastructure, the risk is that of traffic: will the infrastructure be busy or not? For the Champlain Bridge, which is extremely strategic, the answer is obvious: it will be busy, that is certain. The risk of traffic is therefore a moot point, so there is no need of sharing it with a private partner."

 

"The major downfall of P3s is that of financing because they cause the costs of large projects to explode," he said. "Our governments can always borrow at a much better interest rate than any large corporation. A Champlain Bridge constructed under a P3 will therefore pass along the extra costs to taxpayers because of higher interest rates."

 

"All Quebec needs on this issue is a pragmatic and rigorous examination of the opportunities. Yet, in Quebec the P3 model is accumulating failure after failure, whether we look at the CUSM, CHUM, road closures, the OSM hall, or if we refer to the Quebec auditor general reports."

 

CUPE represents employees of Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incoporated.