The Hospital Railroad

The current survey on Baytoday regarding the New Hospital funding indicates that there is not a good public understanding of the cost sharing. Or how much the project is going to cost the North Bay taxpayer. This is beginning to sound like the waterfront rail lands all over again.

For those who have E type short term memory loss, the cost of the rail lands was whatever former councils finally settled on plus the unknown clean-up costs less the sales revenue for the land so far sold. Sorry I can’t be more specific but these are land sales and confidential to council and their close friends. The future costs and revenues will be with us for years and some day we may get a final accounting, but back to the hospital.

In most private ventures one does not start a project unless one knows that the funding is there to complete the project. This is not so with government projects (e.g. rail lands) where the funding can be subject to political promises, poor project management, and price inflation by contractors used to dealing with the vagaries of government.

But expediency in the form of legislation (our new filtration plant – cost yet unknown) or delivery of services such as the new hospital can push a project ahead without all the dollars dotted and cents crossed. After all, we can always raise taxes.

If we are to believe our civic leaders, the new hospital will be a strong economic engine for North Bay and area. Already much dirt has been dug and moved, providing work for our local contractors. There will be more as the project continues but much of the money spent will go for materials and expertise not available locally. Which is fine, since most of the funding taxes come from southern Ontario.

I’m sure the hospital board is keeping track of the local benefits, and when all the dust settles we’ll know just what the hospital cost us – the same as the rail lands.

The concern is that, like the rail lands, the taxpayers have been committed to something of which they know very little (according to the survey). Apparently the Mayor has informed the Hospital Project Team that there is a very specific limit on what the City will pay.

But here’s the rub – the Dalton Gang will pay a percentage of the cost, supposedly with an upset limit, and the rest of the money comes from you know who. If the Mayor’s fixed sum and Dalton’s variable sum (plus private donations) don’t add up to the cost of the new hospital, what happens? Does it stall like Sudbury?

In the case of the rail lands, somebody finally lit a firecracker under councilor M and the deal with Marathon was renegotiated. That can work with a private company but will it work with the Dalton Gang?

We don’t have to know where the funding comes from for the Provincial or private donations, but it would be nice to know how the City is going to raise its share. Perhaps the hospital and council could give us a quarterly report on expected costs – the hospital for the overall project and council for the City’s portion. We don’t need another rail lands surprise.