Allegations by Abdul Khan, Hamilton’s director of water and wastewater treatment for four of the last five years, call attention to the serious problems that can arise when decisions about investments and operations are removed from the private sphere. The city has run its own water and wastewater system since 2005. Before jumping on the anti-privatization bandwagon, those concerned about costs and accountability would do well to look at Hamilton’s experience with public operations. The Canadian Union of Public Employees describes the Hamilton contract as “one of Canada’s most infamous examples of the disastrous consequences of privatized water and wastewater treatment.” The Council of Canadians calls it “a raw deal” for the community, citing higher costs and loss of accountability as problems with partnerships. In recent debates over Victoria’s options for procurement of a new wastewater system, the Water Watch coalition used Hamilton’s 10-year experiment with private operations to illustrate the many ways a public-private partnership can go wrong. The City of Hamilton’s besieged water and wastewater system is no poster child for public operationsĪmilton is often held up as an example of why not to privatize the operation of water and wastewater systems.
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