Ontario auditor breaks new ground with review of public-private partnerships

Last month Ontario's auditor general issued her annual report. One of her targets was Ontario's use of public-private partnerships to build public infrastructure. As the Toronto Star put it, "Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk has taken a wrecking ball to the (Ontario) Liberals' use of private money to bankroll new hospitals and transit…"

Lysyk's report found that the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) had cost Ontarians $8 billion more than they would have paid if the projects had been financed with traditional public funding.