Public Private Partnerships and the Public Interest: A Case Study of Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park Development

Abstract

Public private partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly advocated as beneficial for the delivery of public services, facilities, and infrastructure for municipal governments. However, such partnerships often raise serious concerns about transparency and accountability. While municipal governments across Canada have tried to increase public participation in local affairs, PPPs can impede such efforts. This article presents a case study of the Lansdowne Park PPP redevelopment in the City of Ottawa. We focus on how transparency and citizen engagement have been compromised and circumvented and link to broader issues of how to balance the privileged status of business and the demands for commercial confidentiality with the public interest, transparency, and citizen engagement in projects that use PPPs. The article concludes by arguing that some projects and some conditions can render the use of PPPs inappropriate and counterproductive in terms of both effectiveness and the basic principles of good governance.RÉSUMÉLes partenariats public-privé (PPP) sont de plus en plus préconisés par les municipalités comme étant une solution avantageuse pour la prestation de services publics ainsi que la réalisation de projets d’installations et d’infrastructures publiques. Toutefois, de tels partenariats soulèvent souvent d’importantes préoccupations quant à la transparence et la reddition de compte en lien avec ce processus. Plusieurs municipalités canadiennes ont fait de grands progrès pour accroître la participation des citoyens aux affaires municipales, mais les PPP peuvent représenter un obstacle important à de tels efforts. Cet article présente une étude de cas sur le réaménagement du parc Lansdowne dans le cadre d’un PPP à la Ville d’Ottawa. L’article se concentre sur la façon dont la transparence et l’engagement des citoyens ont été compromis et contournés dans ce processus. Cette analyse est liée à des considérations sur la façon d’atteindre un équilibre entre le statut privilégié de l’entreprise et les exigences de confidentialité des informations commerciales avec l’intérêt public, la transparence et l’engagement des citoyens dans des projets qui utilisent des PPP. L’article conclut en affirmant que certains projets et certaines conditions peuvent rendre certains PPP inappropriés et contre productifs en ce qui a trait à l’efficacité et aux principes fondamentaux de bonne gouvernance.

Incorporating the public interest in public-private partnerships in Ontario: a case study of the Eglinton Crosstown

“…Furthermore, the partnership between public and private creates project complexity that often makes it challenging to trace pertinent project information within the organizational structure of the P3 (Flinders, 2005). Such was the case with the Landsdowne Park redevelopment in Ottawa, where any endeavours to engage with the public were hindered by a lack of access to important documents such as cost and comparative options (Krawchenko and Stoney, 2011). As the introduction of a private entity to infrastructure provision meant the government had to protect proprietary information, they were led to reduce project transparency in order to accommodate private interests.…”

“…However, the intrusion of private interests in the provision of public infrastructure has been met with considerable consternation from academics, practitioners, and the general public. Critics charge that the private sector's motivation for profit will necessarily circumvent the democratic process and sequester every legal means for extracting as much revenue from projects as possible (Krawchenko and Stoney, 2011).…”

Public–Private Partnerships in the Preservation of Presidential Records

“…Early literature related to PPPs is rooted within scholarship highlighting the benefits of collaborative multi-organizational relationships (Hardy & Phillips, 1998). More recently, scholars have presented a richer view of PPPs, acknowledging their potential drawbacks as well as their potential benefits (Bovaird, 2004; Brinkerhoff, 2002; Edgar et al, 2006; Gazley & Brudney, 2007; Hodge & Coghill, 2007; Krawchenko & Stoney, 2011; Rosenau, 1999; Teamey, 2007); however, investigations into the effectiveness or efficiency of PPPs often fail to consider how these relationships emerge, evolve, and endure over time.…”

“…As PPPs can involve a variety of multi-sector relationships intertwining government, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations, variances in both public and private actors may obscure what distinguishes such a relationship from contracting and other methods of multi-organizational collaboration (Mcloughlin, 2011; Selsky & Parker, 2005). This review focuses on partnerships between nonprofit organizations and government agencies, as such relationships have become an important aspect of public administration practice and theory globally (Krawchenko & Stoney, 2011; Wettenhall, 2003).…”

Identifying and Evaluating Revenue Strategies for Parks and Recreation Departments across the Western United States

“…This article is relevant because it would be beneficial to research whether any of these ideas for state parks could be applied to local city parks (Morgan 1996). Krinsky and Simonet (2011) Not all partnerships are negative, and they can be used as an effective tool for delegating public services to local businesses (Krawchenko, et al 2011).…”