“’Shop local’” is what we want,” agreed Andy Ridge, Assistant Deputy Minister, Properties Division for Alberta Infrastructure, but rounded out by a fierce competitiveness. “We are bullish in looking at international players,” with the recognition that they will pick up local supplies and labour. “It’s a nice marriage.
P3 projects have benefited greatly from the international community and “the innovation they’ve brought has been a huge benefit,” said Miguel Morrissette, Vice-President of Infrastructure Development for SaskBuilds. It has increased apprentice opportunities in local business, and the partnerships ensure “that we have the best from around the world, [and] local labour, too.”
Morrissette and other panellists also stressed the importance of market engagement in developing P3 projects.
“It’s a very important time to take a step back and do the value-for-money assessment,” said Saskatchewan’s Morrissette, which can help the public understand that money can be saved by engaging in P3. Politics will also be important, and the public will be concerned regarding what they see as the privatization of services.
“But these projects sell themselves in many ways,” he says; “our projects have been on time and on budget,” including major hospital projects, where the P3 model has protected them in terms of risk. “The key thing for us is … trying to take the politics out of it, trying to get down to a place where we’re making good decisions based on, ‘Is it the right tool for the job?’
