Could Vancouverites soon be crossing the London Drugs Burrard Street Bridge to get to a privately-managed Vancouver Aquatic Centre?
That, or something similar to it, is a reality the city could soon be considering.
“I don't know why people would be opposed to public-private partnerships,” said Coun. Brian Montague.
“Clearly we wouldn't want to do that in every case. But I think there are some examples that … might be a solution, because we can't keep getting into the pockets of Vancouver taxpayers.”
Montague was discussing with Metro Matters the final report released by the
city's independent task force of accountants on its long-term budget and finances, of which he sat on the advisory committee.
There are 17 recommendations
in the report, and they span the gamut from standard recommendations accountants make in any organization (recommendation no. 12 is “Leverage Technology to Optimize Operations") — to things municipalities have spent decades advocating for to higher levels of government (recommendation no. 4: “Use Empirical Evidence to Ensure Equity and Modernize the Funding Model”).
But there are others that spark fierce debates — particularly around privatization.
Recommendation 14 says Vancouver should "consider private sector ownership of non-core assets." Recommendation 16 says "the City should contemplate … engaging professional property management firms to consolidate the building maintenance … of housing assets," while Recommendation 17 says the city should “generate revenues by selling naming rights … for various City assets.”
These are likely to be some of the most contentious areas in the report, if history from other governments is a guide. And because they don’t rely on action from other governments to happen — unlike many of the other big recommendations — the city could move relatively quickly on them.
It’s a conversation Montague wants to see happen, specifically mentioning the Aquatic Centre as an example for private partnerships, and how the Vancouver Canucks gets money from Rogers for the naming rights to their arena when it comes to sponsorships.
“I don't see why the City of Vancouver can't explore those opportunities,” he said.
“The city's got $500 million in infrastructure deficit every year. We need to find ways to increase revenue. Savings is going to be more challenging, so I think revenue is where we really need to look.”
Of course, Montague is just one vote on council. And as he noted, “the report doesn't provide any specifics … it's up to us now and city staff to sort of hone in on those recommendations and come up with some specific tangible solutions.”
But how the privatization debate plays out in the weeks and months ahead could become one of the biggest flashpoints of the Sim administration.
