P3 Frameworks Within the Canadian Federal System: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract: The central purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of alternative institutional arrangements and policy frameworks for P3 governance in the context of the Canadian federal system that have emerged in... [ view full abstract ]

Abstract:

The central purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of alternative institutional arrangements and policy frameworks for P3 governance in the context of the Canadian federal system that have emerged in recent decades.

Within the context of Canadian federalism, P3s have involved one or more of the following three orders of government (federal, provincial, municipal and Aboriginal). The increase in the number and types of P3s has been accompanied by an increase in the number and types of governmental policies, programs, agencies, and special pools of funds related to P3s.

The proposed paper builds on a previous paper presented by the author at the International Conference on Public Policy in Milan on the purposes and key features of the various elements of the very complex framework of agencies, policies, programs and special funds devoted to infrastructure P3s at the federal, provincial and local levels in Canada.

More specifically, the proposed paper will provide an assessment of that complex framework in an effort to ascertain the adequacy or inadequacy of its component parts in facilitating the creation and operation of infrastructure P3s, and by extension in achieving various public policy goals of the participating governments.

Toward that end, the proposed paper will focus on what the principal governmental and non-governmental stakeholders believe are the key features of the system that are working well and the key features that must be improved in light of their experiences to date. The paper will be based primarily on interviews with such stakeholders as well as some informed analysts and observers of the P3 system(s) that exist within the Canadian federal system.