Alberta NDP pushes minister to open books on new school funding

Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason wants the province to disclose all the financial details behind the construction and maintenance of 18 new schools in Calgary and Edmonton.

In announcing the new, privately builtschools Friday,InfrastructureMinisterJack Haydensaid the total value of the contract is $634 million, a $118 million savings overconventional methods of funding new schools.

Buthis claimscan't be verified unless the contract itself is made public and Hayden said he isn't sure he can do that.

"I don't know what the disclosure rules are on this," Hayden said. "I can tell you what I do know I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize us getting more schools for the students in Alberta."

Mason said Hayden should know whether he can release the contract publicly and the confusion is a sign of an inexperienced cabinet minister.

"My advice is that he reads contracts carefully before he signs them especially contracts that are worth more than $600 million and that he take steps to make sure the public actually has access to all the information."

The schools are scheduled to be built by July 2010. There will be six public and three separate schools in each city.

Under what is being called a P3, or public-private partnership, the province has contracted out the design and construction of the new schools. Ownership will remain with the school boards.

The winning bidder also has a 30-year contract to do major maintenance and repairs, such as replacing boilers and roofs.

"Traditionally P3s are more expensive," said Mason, "because government can borrow money at a lower interest rate. We have a situation where you've got a profit margin involved as well, so all of that pushes up the cost and it hides debt and it makes things less transparent."

Australian firm building the schools

The winning firm, Australia's Babcock and Brown Public Partnerships, a subsidiary of investment group Babcock and Brown, announced the project on its website Monday.

Babcock and Brown has been heavily affected by the financial crisis in the United States. According to media reports, the company's stock has lost 97 per cent of its value in 2008. The company's chief executive officer and chairman both resigned in August. The company also announced last month it would lay off a quarter of its staff.

Hayden told CBC News on Thursday the province is "very comfortable" working with Babcock and Brown.

"We do a lot of work to make sure that the organizations and companies we deal with are solvent and that they are able to carry out the contract," Hayden said.

However, D'Arcy Lanovaz, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Alberta, has a lot of questions.

"What we're seeing is the provincial government handing a 32-year contract to them. The question becomes: Are they going to be solvent before the schools are even built and how long will they be around? Are they going to be around for 32 years?" Lanovaz asked.