The P3 Initiative was controversial from the start. The point
of building new schools under this arrangement was that the capital
expenditures would not show up in on the government's fiscal statements.
As Mr. Salmon (the Auditor General) commented in his 1997 report:
"7.2 The government did not prepare a formal analysis
of advantages of P3 arrangements in comparison to the traditional
approach prior to making the decision to enter into P3 arrangements
for school construction. We recommend that government
prepare a detailed analysis of risks and rewards prior to entering
into any future public-private partnersip arrangements."
This was never done.
In his 1998 Report on the P3 Initiative Roy Salmon wrote:
When my 1997 Annual Report was issued, the status of the P3
school construction initiative was as follows:
* Eight school construction projects were proceeding under P3
arrangements. Construction had started for four of the schools.
The Province had not signed leases for any of the schools although
two were occupied (O'Connell Drive Elementary in Porters Lake
and Sherwood Park Education Centre - a junior high school in
Sydney).
* The Minister of Finance had announced in the April 1997 Budget
Address to the House of Assembly that all future school construction
projects in the Province would be built under P3 arrangements.
* In December 1997 Executive Council approved the Report of
the School Capital Construction Committee dated September 1997.
The Province then announced that it would proceed with approximately
$360 million of school construction and renovations, including
$250 million relating to new school construction under P3 arrangements.
For complete details look up:
1998
Report from the Auditor General of Nova Scotia on Education and
Culture (P3's for School Construction)
The Pictou East Rural Communities Action Group was a vocal opponant
of the P3 Initiative from the outset. They actively researched
the proposals and were a vigorous opposition to the initiative.
Pictou
East Rural Communities Action Group
"P3 leasing is a delicious scam for big business to exploit
a continuous vulnerable resource- our children.