This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information. 

For Canadian Taxpayers Federation, $8 billion is less than $1.9 billion

While the Canadian Taxpayers Foundation's annual Teddy Waste Awards may overlook $8 billion in extra spending in privatization, the Scammies (Privatization Scam of the Year Awards) won't.

Ottawa (10 March 2015) — If you were an organization that was genuinely concerned about preventing public money from being wasted, what would worry you more—$8 billion in extra spending because of P3-privatization schemes or $1.9 billion spent installing smart meters?

That should be a no-brainer. While the Ontario Auditor General’s report makes it clear we should be concerned about both, the $8 billion wasted on P3-privatization schemes is four times the amount spent on smart meters.

But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) appears to do math a bit differently. The $8 billion spent on P3-privatization schemes was ignored in its annual Waste Awards.

As with P3 deals, key information about CTF kept secret

For those familiar with the amount of secrecy surrounding the operations of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation this isn’t a surprise (for background click here). Only a small board of five members are allowed to see the CTS's audited financial statements.

This has fueled suspicions that CTF is heavily dependent on funding from large corporations whose interests can be very different from those of average taxpayers. That’s certainly true when it comes to P3s. CTF has regularly praised P3s and ignored the very real concerns raised about them.

Scammies won’t ignore $8 billion P3 privatization boondoggle

But there is some good news. NUPGE’s Privatization Scam of the Year Awards (the Scammies) won’t be overlooking Ontario’s $8 billion P3 privatization boondoggle. While nominations are still coming in, the Ontario government has already been nominated for its P3 privatization schemes. 

More information:

What a scam (website)

What a scam (flyer)

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE