s from homes in the older parts of the cities. Currently, at the rate of work, itwould take 350 years for the whole job to be completed. (Toronto Star 28 Jan.)Just how much the private-sector firms are hired to do varies widely. They can eitherdo the water services or the sewer services. But in each of the cases, proper facilities must bedesigned, built, operated, and maintained, and eventually upgraded. Proper equipment andsupplies are to be purchased, and of course, employees need to be trained, supervised, andpaid. And often, unions have to be dealt with. (Toronto Star 28 Jan.)Water is essential, but it is not a luxury. Governments can effortlesslycross-subsidize water systems to keep rates down. Private owners, however, cannot. Whenprivate owners raise their rates, the result may be riots. (Toronto Star 29 Jan.)For privatization, taxpayers couldnt afford to pay for everything. The solution forthat would be to involve a company with a fat bank account. The more money is needed, themore water and sewer rates are raised, or the city could borrow, which could eventuallyimpact rates. The Ontario Water Wastewater Association conducted a study in 1999, andconcluded that the cost of bringing all of Ontarios water and sewer services up to standardwould be $32 billion over 20 years. (Toronto Star 28 Jan.) A Toronto-basedEnvironment Probe, Elizabeth Brubaker, who backs privatization, says, Thats anenormous expenditure. We wont see that from the government. The private sector has thecold, hard cash to do it. (Toronto Star 28 Jan.)Toronto could benefit from privatization. A contract would be set up to rewardreduced pollution and to cut water use, which could all lead to innovations like payinghomeowners to disconnect their eavestroughs from the stormwater systems or even creatingmore marshes in the river valleys.Toronto Star Report: Compensation for disasterEvery man, woman, and child who was in Walkerton during the water cri...
