Privatized highways services need better public oversight, says independent auditor

Respected forensic accountant Ron Parks of Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc. recommends the BC government take direct control of highway maintenance services "in one or two strategic areas" of the province in order to measure whether privatized highway services are offering good value to taxpayers.

Parks was commissioned last fall by the BC Government and Service Employees' Union to evaluate the privatized highways maintenance model. In a letter sent this week to BCGEU President Darryl Walker, Parks reported it is virtually impossible to determine the efficiency of privatized highway services because the government has not been collecting the information that would allow meaningful comparison of public and private service delivery.

Walker, whose union represents 2,000 highways maintenance workers employed by a patchwork of private contractors across BC, says, "Taxpayers deserve to know whether highway maintenance privatization has saved money or cost us more."

Parks explains that, "Unfortunately, after more than twenty years of privatized highway maintenance, the information is not available on a current enough basis to conduct a meaningful value for money assessment."

In his recommendations, Parks says, "Re-establishing the Ministry [of Transportation's] knowledge about input costs and operational outcomes would enable effective value for money assessments and administration of services delivered by the private sector."

He adds the recommendation to take a highways maintenance contract back under direct government control could be put into effect as early as 2013, when the contracts next come up for renewal. Parks also recommended the long-term contracts include "windows" in which the Ministry can conduct financial value analyses and return work to public hands if necessary.

Click for full letter to BCGEU president Darryl Walker