for all the highway projects.
“What happens with PPPs, is
that you tap into the exper-
tise of the industry to allow
you to deliver infrastructure
earlier. This has been our ex-
perience with all three of our
highway projects. All three of
them have been delivered on
time and on budget,” explains
Blaney.
“The most compelling reason
to embark on these large proj-
ects is that the savings to the
taxpayers. I think all jurisdic-
tions should consider it as de-
livery model.”
PPP doesn’t just mean Public-
Private Partnerships, accord-
ing to Blaney. He explains
the other three Ps: “You have
to have the right projects
and right candidate projects,
which has potential for bene-
fits. You have to have the right
people involved and you have
to have the right process to
follow.”
An extensive screening pro-
cess ensures the right candi-
dates are chosen for PPPs. Af-
ter the screening process, an
evaluation process for money
is completed, which is fol-
lowed by marketplace and
project agreement consulta-
tions.
The project did not come
without its share of chal-
lenges. In the earlier stages
of the project, for example,
the contractor discovered an
unknown archaeological site
that required extensive evalu-
ation. After working in part-
nership with the First Nations,
the contractor was able to di-
vert lanes around the affected
sites without affecting the
schedule of the project.
This example attests to
Blaney’s point of develop-
ing a strong relationship with
the right developer contrac-
tor. “One of the strengths of
a PPP is that you have a de-
veloper contractor who has
the resources where they
can muster the resources to
deal with large issues,” says
Blaney. “They have the flex-
ibility to be able to deal with
these issues without limiting
and affecting the schedule of
the process.”
“To that end, the Canadian
Council and the University of
New Brunswick have recently
partnered to try to put togeth-
er forced curriculum for uni-
versity students. Starting at
that grassroots level was very
important. A lot of the issues
with the acceptance of PPP
come from people not under-
standing them,” he says.
APRIL 2013
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