On public interests

Apparently Brad Wall's gang of merry corporate lackeys isn't the only Western government which has been forced to concede that the supposed benefits of contracting public services out to the private sector are purely a mirage. Indeed, Gordon Campbell's government is now in-sourcing project funding and program administration alike due to the simple fact that it's more efficient than the privatized alternative:

The Campbell administration's devotion to the virtues of privatizing and contracting-out government services seems to have been wavering lately. For example, in February, The Surrey Leader's Jeff Nagel paraphrased Partnerships British Columbia chief executive officer Larry Blain as saying "switching from private to public borrowing" for the Port Mann Bridge and Highway 1 expansion project will save $200 million in financing costs. Ministries have also been asked to keep their professional services contracts to a minimum. And here's another example: during estimates debate last week, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell said the government's Forests for Tomorrow program - which was being administered by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP - has been taken in-house, saving $200,000.

Of course, that isn't stopping both Wall and Campbell from trying to tie the hands of future governments in putting the public interest over private profit motives. But surely the fact that both are recognizing the folly of doing just that when they're responsible for the results should be the first step in reversing the trend of pushing public activity into the private sector.