In the conversations surrounding our Lexpert Top Ten Deals article, the topic of infrastructure came up often, as a beacon of promise for the years ahead. At the 23rd Annual National Conference on Public-Private Ownerships, held in Toronto in November, the tone was likewise optimistic. Toronto Mayor John Tory; former Interim Leader, Liberal Party of Canada, the Hon. Bob Rae; President and CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Michael Sabia; and others, all point to the future for Canadian business with enthusiasm for P3.
Another speaker at the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerhships (CCPPP) conference, Gary Horlick, a Washington-based international trade lawyer, was also positive about infrastructure, but with a caveat. He was giving a preview of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, while admitting that there is much more work on its details to be ironed out. Still, he reportedly said, “while the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal is generally good news for infrastructure builders, they may be disappointed that the deal doesn’t throw open the cross-border market for infrastructure procurement.”
In other words, governments will be permitted to liberalize their procurement processes, but not entirely obligated to. Continuing with this theme of optimism at the beginning of 2016, it is fair to say that Canadian investors have worked with challenging procurement regimes, indeed regimes of any kind, and are likely to succeed in the new framework. Here’s to a brilliant 2016 for Canadian business people, and their lawyers.