Mr. Corriveau, a spokesperson for the bank, was quoted as saying, “The private sector, in partnership with the CIB, can play a role in delivering important infrastructure. Without CIB acting as a catalyst for private sector investment, it could mean decades of waiting until the risk and economics are addressed.”
We're talking about de-risking a project that the private sector isn't willing to move forward with, and this is really interesting because one of the primary arguments that proponents of public-private partnerships make when arguing for P3s is that they transfer risk off the public sector and onto the private sector. Here's a case where we're talking about transferring risk from the private sector onto the public sector.
Under what circumstances should the public sector, Canadian taxpayers, Canadian citizens, assume risk that the private sector isn't willing to bear?