this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
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[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 55 minutes ago)

Sir, this isn't the 1990s any more. Neoliberalism is fucking dead.

Ps. Enjoy your Liberal majority.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

This is how Carney thinks he's going to finance his Canada Strong Fund. He knows he's going to get huge pushback because it's all financed with debt and he thinks this will give him money to finance the fund. This is a horrible idea. Empirical evidence shows privatizing airports does not work.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Privatization never makes things "more efficient", it just transfers assets from the public to the private sector, and allows those private owners to have an ongoing profit from something the citizens paid for the building of.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 hours ago

Efficient is a loaded word because first have to establish what exactly is being optimized. Privatization makes profit extraction more efficient for the elites, but it does fuck all for regular people.

[–] TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 day ago (6 children)

As is Canadian tradition, these airports would eventually end up in the hands of American corporations and thus a key component of Canadian infrastructure would be foreign-owned.

History is a goddamn circle.

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 hours ago

And right when Carney was also talking about hardening Canada against possible conflict with the US! Perfect! Just give all Canadian assets a damn fine reason to rally behind the United States!

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 hours ago

Kneepads on!

[–] Typhoon@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago

Adding an extra layer to a system will never result in it being cheaper. Especially when that layer is for ~~investment~~ extracting profit.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

We could heed it, just this once

[–] Typotyper@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago

Look how well the 407 has worked for Toronto

Sellers regret is deep

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 46 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Is there one example where privatizing a public asset has turned out to be beneficial for Canadians as a whole? Between Petro-Canada, Air Canada, Highway 407, Hydro One, all I see are regrets.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

How about Toronto recycling? Have they picked it up yet?

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 hours ago

Not going great from what I've seen.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No but the shareholders will benefit so that's all that matters

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 day ago

they're the real constituents

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It is beneficial to the few Canadians with controlling share. They give fuck all about everyone else.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

the joys of living in a liberal democracy

Can't forget CN Rail!

[–] ValueSubtracted@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'll offer up one, with the caveat that I don't actually know much about it, and I'd love to be proven wrong. It's even in the aviation industry.

In 1996, air navigation services were privatized, and Nav Canada was created. They're a private non-profit (that bit is probably very important).

As near as I can tell, it was a success by most measures. Employee salaries went up, and airline ticket prices went marginally down. I think there were layoffs as they cut layers of bureaucratic bloat, though.

And again, I'm very open to being proven wrong on this.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

The short version is that while Nav Canada did streamline operations, but the broader shift to privatized air navigation services can be seen as a net negative in many other places for a number of structural reasons.

Safety oversight gets complicated. Even a non-profit private entity answers to a board and has cost pressures, and regulators can't maintain the same level of scrutiny they had over a government department. You see this in the UK where the privatized NATS has faced repeated criticism from regulators over performance and staffing levels affecting service quality. The safety culture shifts from a pure public good to something that must be weighed against operational efficiency.

The non-profit model also hides a loss of public accountability because Nav Canada is not directly answerable to taxpayers in the same way a government service is. Decisions about service cuts at remote airports or staffing reductions are made behind closed doors. Communities that lose air traffic services have very little recourse. In a public system those decisions are politically painful so they face more scrutiny.

The cost savings to airlines do not necessarily translate into lower ticket prices either. Airlines generally pocket the savings and passengers still suffer when the system is stretched too thin during a crisis. The pandemic exposed fragility in many privatized systems just a few years ago.

So yes Nav Canada has a decent reputation on the surface. But privatizing air traffic control erodes safety oversight and public accountability. Some things are natural public goods and should be operated as such.

[–] Gmak2442@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think our airport are very good. We should not change what work well.

[–] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world -4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

But they aren't stable and are facing real trouble. Airlines cut flights, airports lose fees. Both become vulnerable. Private markets make them money pits that have to close up shop.

Private industry has a place in any economy. But when essential systems can't survive the swings of markets, that's your signal that nationalizing essential infrastructure becomes neccessary.

We should do the same with oil. We can't yet live without it, but with climate change cooking us, we can't leave private interest seeking growth at all costs.

We're not in the world you remember anymore. Change isn't coming. It's here.

[–] Alloi@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

This reads like chatGPT psychosis.

[–] Typhoon@lemmy.ca 25 points 1 day ago

Canada is a resource extraction colony for American (and others) profit. We need to keep our infrastructure owned by Canada for the betterment of Canadians.

[–] thisorthatorwhatever@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We need high speed electric rail. Not private airports trying to stop high-speed rail, because it is a competitor.

The airline industry is a disaster. Everyday some airline is on the verge of bankruptcy. Selling the airports is going to make all it worse.

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

No but it will make nice short term wins for a few!

[–] ValueSubtracted@startrek.website 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Global News has a non-paywalled article on this.

When asked if the government was considering privatizing airports and if so, how many, MacKinnon told reporters that the government was talking with airport authorities.

β€œWe’re in the early stages of a process with airport authorities and other partners to determine the best way forward. The ultimate goal, of course, is to improve the passenger experience, to improve the efficiency of our air transport system,” MacKinnon said.

β€œIndeed, they are a public good and I don’t think that spirit or that philosophy will change,” he said.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

Was that a yes or a no?

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 hours ago

The ultimate goal, of course, is to improve the passenger experience, to improve the efficiency of our air transport system,” MacKinnon

Privatization of government services and assets has never achieved those sorts of goals.

And I see no reason to believe this would be any different.

[–] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

That spirit and philosophy will immediately change once privatised. Immediately

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Why does Carney even pretend he isn't a slave to the US? or is he just trying to look tough against Trump but will go full in once Trump kicks it and is replaced by someone who isn't two seconds away from a stroke at all times?

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He's not perfect. He's just the best of those with potential to win the PM spot. I'm thankful that with this leader we're still debating whether he's a sell-out and it's not obvious like the alternative.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Don't go easy on him, he was elected on the promise of ditching the US.

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I voted for Carney, I wish I voted NDP just to clear my conscious

[–] cheat700000007@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I voted NDP. We still lost our long running NDP elective who actually lived in our city to some liberal shit heel who lives 2 cities away.

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Avi Lewis really better get that shit into high gear.

[–] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 3 points 13 hours ago

Here's hoping