That's a common misconception of a P3. A P3 is how you package together the contractual relationship with the private sector. Almost all of the P3 arrangements in Canada are what's called availability payment arrangements, where the private sector is paid based on the availability of the infrastructure, and the payee to the private sector is the government itself. It's not based on user fees.
The question of whether or not to have a user fee is independent of whether or not to have a P3. You can have P3s with user fees and you can have P3s without user fees. Those two concepts are completely distinct in the discussion. I'll give you an example.
Many hospitals in Ontario are built as P3s. Obviously, there's no fee paid by patients when they go to the hospital. The private sector says, “I'll design and build you that hospital, and I'll maintain it over its life. In return you'll pay me if I succeed.” The private sector takes the risk of designing and building the hospital, and I don't pay the private sector a nickel until it's built. The private sector partner takes all of the risk of designing and building that hospital, and you don't pay him anything until it's built. That gives you an advantage. It's like when you're renovating your own bathroom. Do you like to pay the contractor at the beginning, along the way, or at the end? You pay at the end because the risk is his and then you're paying him over the life of the asset if it performs well.
It's performance-based payments to the private sector.