In 2015, the Government of Quebec passed a
Bill to allow the creation of CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) that engages in transit-related projects. An
agreement between Quebec and the Caisse subsequently laid out the groundwork of the collaboration between the two entities.
This newfound model was proudly touted as a new form of PPP, a “public-public partnership”. But for the government, this whole thing comes down to an accounting sleight-of-hand: the government refuses to invest enough money in transit infrastructure, so if the Caisse takes responsibility for its construction, then these projects get taken off the government’s books. Any debt or deficit incurred belongs to the Caisse, not the government. Or, as the government puts it: “ce projet-là se ferait à l’extérieur de notre périmètre comptable”.
If that sounds like a good idea, here’s what it means, according to the
agreement between the Caisse and Québec:
This agreement also aims to minimize the impact on the Government’s debt and deficit in compliance with Canadian accounting rules. Thus, in order for the main objectives of this agreement to be reached, the portion of assets or of investments financed by Caisse in connection with any project must comply with the following criteria and, as such, the Government:
- must not exercise control over the assets of the project;
- must not assume any risks and derive any benefit inherent to the ownership of such assets;
- must not automatically become the owner of the project or benefit from an option to purchase at a preferential price;
- must not pay for the majority of the assets through its contributions;
- must never have the authority to direct the financial and administrative policies of Caisse.
“Who cares?” you might think. If the Caisse builds infrastructure, shouldn’t they own it and manage it outside of the Government’s purview?
Maybe, if they built a whole line from scratch, using their own money. Maybe even with the public paying for half the construction costs (i.e. billions), we could perhaps, after much consideration and some public planning, allow the Caisse to own the infrastructure.
But that’s not what they’re doing.