It’s been months — many, many GLORIOUS MONTHS — since I’ve even thought about P3s. You can’t imagine how rich a life you can have without thinking about Public Private Partnerships. It’s like all of a sudden you have all this extra space in your brain for things like joy.
Sadly, like loving the Riders, thinking about P3s and their implications on your municipality is something you simply HAVE to do if you’re going to survive in Regina.
It’s tragic but true.
So if you want to get your P3 freak on this week, the U of R is putting on a little talk on the subject by Bill Bonner and Morina Rennie from the Faculty of Business Administration. It’s called: “Regina’s P3 referendum: A vote hijacked by a war of numbers from nowhere.”
Quite the mouthful. I’d love to go but can’t because Malta. But otherwise I would because it’s right up my alley. Check these bits from the description…
Using Actor-Network Theory we focus on the enlistment by P3 proponents of numbers from the Value for Money chart… Despite the lack of verifiable substance these numbers were enlisted by P3 proponents and came to speak volumes during the referendum… This was aided by the public option proponents who challenged those numbers and added similarly unverifiable numbers of their own… We problematize the Value for Money calculations used so persuasively in this local referendum with the hope of providing others facing similar situations the ability to shine a spotlight in the lack of substance of such numbers…
Holy shit! Problematizing numbers with Actor-Network Theory!?! It’s going to be a THRILL-FEST! That’s the kind of academics kids can mosh to!
Somebody has to go to this thing and make a video and put in on Youtube so I can watch it. Please.
I’m serious.
The event is Friday March 6 at 10:30 am in the Education Building, Room 558.
UPDATE: Forgot to mention how Morina Rennie, one of the two profs speaking on Friday, was a guest blogger here on Dog Blog back during Regina’s Water War. Her post was titled, “The Uncertain Costs Of A P3” and is probably still a good background read.
