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4- The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 28, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Critics fear repeat of Brampton hospital Continued from page 2 Like Foran, Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn also noted that Oakville's hospital will not face the same problems as Brampton. "That's the old way of doing it. They wouldn't include all the costs when they're doing the estimates. They would include a portion of the costs and the other costs would come in later," said Flynn in reference to the situation in Brampton. Flynn also added that the AFP model will only see the government making payments to the private sector once the project is fully delivered and is boarded on time and on budget. By doing this, he explained, you would save tax dollars because in the traditional way of building hospitals "if a project went over-time or over-budget all that risk would be transferred to the taxpayers." John Oliver, president and CEO of Halton Health Services, which oversees the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, said the AFP model is not only in the best interest of the community, but is the only way of building the hospital. "This isn't a small renovation," said Oliver. "It's a total new hospital being built from scratch. For us to have had that money in a bank account somewhere before we began the project would have been a enormous barrier to the start of the project." Opponents of the AFP model object to the secrecy surrounding the model. According to Jeffries, secrecy on the issue is not new. In Brampton, the public was only able to look at the terms of the contract at a specified location, and photocopies were not permitted. Flynn said the government intends to disclose as much information as possible to the public, as long as it doesn't compromise the competitive process. "What we don't want to do is advertise the cost we expect," Flynn said. "We don't want to go out there, and say we want a hospital built and we expect it to cost $1.5 billion, because if I'm a contractor I'd come in and say, `Okay I want $1.45 billion.' We don't want to broadcast how much we are prepared to pay." "My intent is not to stop the building of the hospital in the community. The facts are this process works and it's in the best interest of tax payers," he said. Infrastructure Ontario says the model will among other things work towards: · Minimizing cost and schedule overruns; · Building infrastructure that will last · Bettering coordination between design, construction and long-term maintenance and building services; · More accountability throughout the planning, construction and maintenance phases of each project Despite its critics, the number of projects being built under the AFP model is growing. In November 2006, Infrastructure Ontario had one public-private partnership project under construction, and only a year later it had 14 on the go. To date, it has delivered approximately 22 major projects. More than 100, 000 jobs are expected to be generated in the province from AFP projects assigned to Infrastructure Ontario. Nonetheless, Jeffries is advising the Oakville community to speak up and get informed. "Feel sorry for us (Brampton community), look at us as an example of what not to do and fight it for your community," she said. What can be better than a roaring fire tempering a cold morning, or a soft romantic glow in the evening? Setting the human mind at rest, a fireplace has a calming, serene effect. They are functional and beautiful and nowadays a certain `must' as decor in the home. Fireplace...Latin for `focal' is certainly apt. Being the focal point of a home, your choice in fireplace and mantle should be of quality and compliment your environment. Enter Ontario Hearth... Since its 2001 inception in Mississauga, Ontario Hearth has built a worthy reputation based on excellence in product and service. 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