Privatizing Our Highways is Dangerous Business

Warning: Privatization Ahead

If we go down the road of highway privatization, we could end up jeopardizing the safety of the travelling public and paying more to private for-profit companies.

Work that has for years been performed by Ministry of Highways staff is increasingly being handed over to private contractors - from equipment repair and road maintenance to engineering services.

Privatizing highways maintenance.  What's the bottom line?

Public safety at risk

If government hands highway work to private, for-profit contractors, the safety of the travelling public may be put at risk. That's a reasonable conclusion based on the experience in British Columbia, where highway maintenance has been privatized.

Unsafe vehicles and equipment

A freedom of information request by a Kamloops journalist revealed that many of the vehicles and equipment that private contractors had on the road presented a danger to the public.

Some of the private equipment had faulty brakes, tires ready to blow out, and unsafe loads, which put families at risk on the province's highways. A total of 427 safety violations were recorded by inspectors between 2007 and 2008. Many of the safety infractions were so serious that the trucks and trailers were immediately ordered off the road.

Communities raise concerns

Local governments in B.C. have formally expressed their concerns about road safety following privatization, and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities passed a resolution calling on the government to more closely audit road and bridge maintenance.

No public oversight

At present, private companies in B.C., whose overriding concern is their bottom line, are self-governing and self-regulating. This lack of public oversight can have disastrous results for families and communities.

The high cost of contracting out

• A study of B.C. highways found that maintenance costs increased by $19 million every year following privatization.
• Ontario's Provincial Auditor reported that road maintenance costs rose by $2 million per year after privatization.
• In Alberta, researchers have been unable to assess the real cost implications of privatization because contracts with private companies are not available to the public.
• Financial accountability is clearly a casualty when public services are handed over to private companies.

Job losses

Privatization means job losses for public service workers. In B.C., the number of highways workers dropped from 2,600 to 1,580 since privatization.

Let's keep highways where they belong - in public hands.