Feb 282013
Albertans' tax dollars at risk.
by SGNews Staff
A recent report from the University of Alberta's Parkland Institute says that the contracting out of Alberta's infrastructure maintenance to private firms has resulted in decreased transparency and accountability, and has put taxpayer dollars at risk.
The report, Delivery Matters: Public Infrastructure, Privatized Maintenance, and Government Transparency, was originally intended to evaluate the costs of outsourcing maintenance work for public buildiings to private companies, a practice which has increased exponentially since 2006.
However, Alberta's privacy office repeatedly denied Parkland Institute's efforts to obtain the cost details of the maintenance contracts.
"This is a serious problem," says the report's lead author Regan Boychuk. Private sector involvement diminishes transparency and accountability."
“We’re dealing with a government that repeatedly looks to contract out services to the private sector, yet Albertans are prevented from examining the full consequernces of this outsourcing.
The reports' authors were also hampered by government changes to the method by which the condition of public buildings is measured. The new method, adopted in the midst of a surge in contracting out, not only makes it impossible to compare the condition of buildings before and after contracting out, its positive findings contradict government annual reports citing a significant infrastructure deficit.
The study highlights concerns about the two companies getting the bulk of government maintenance contracts, Edon Management and SNC-Lavelin. Edward Lazdowski, president of Edon, has previously been investigated for mishandling trust funds and has been named in a lawsuit for lack of maintenance resulting in injury.
In the past year alone, SNC-Lavelin has been involved in a series of high-profile international scandals featuring investigations by the RCMP and Swiss authorities and a ban by the World Bank from bidding on projects.
"Ultimately, we were unable to do a cost analysis of infrastructure maintenance, determine the actual condition of the province's buildings, or determine whether taxpayer dollars were being securely managed," said Shannon Stunden Bower, Parkland research director and report co-author. "This is not good news for Albertans, and is especially surprising given this government's stated commitment to openness and transparency."
© Copyright 2013 SGNews Staff, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.caOne Response to “Cost of privatized maintenance cloaked”
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The lack of transparency highlights the growing desparation of the Alberta PC party. Like the Federal CPC (same party, different name, confused? That is it's purpose, too keep the public confused and dependent on the government brainwashing), highly secretive in order to shape shift through public controversy when the public DOES see through all the fog and mirrors. They both campaigned on "transparency" but we, the public, are still trying to figure out what they mean.