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The Future is Public conference looks at how to win fight against privatization

Speakers at the conference include people who’ve been involved in fighting privatization across Canada and in other countries. 

Ottawa (14 May 2018) — The Future is Public conference in June is a chance to discuss successes in the fight against privatization. The conference will be on June 15 and 16 at Concordia University in Montreal. 

Services being brought back under public control

Increasingly, winning the fight against privatization means more than stopping services from being privatized. It means bringing services that have been privatized back under public control.

The most common reversals of privatization are for water, energy, and P3 privatization schemes. In Nova Scotia, the provincial government is buying back P3 schools. Hamilton brought its water system back under public control, while Banff ended the contracting out of sewage treatment services.

Worldwide there are over 835 examples of services being brought back under public control. The majority of these are for water and energy, but other services include health, social work, and IT. Examples of services being brought back under public control can be found in all parts of the world.

Speakers include people with experience fighting privatization in Canada and around the world

Speakers at the conference include people who’ve been involved in fighting privatization across Canada and in other countries. They include Miriam Planas, a leader in the campaign to bring water services under control in the Barcelona region. Among the speakers who will be familiar to NUPGE members are Cindy Blackstock and Maude Barlow.