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If you look at the events of 2008, I think that raised a lot of cynicism of people filling their own pockets and so on

Q Looking back at your roles in the public and private sectors, would you say the public’s cynicism of Corporate Canada has grown or shrunk in the past 10 years?

A That’s double-sided. If you look at the events of 2008, I think that raised a lot of cynicism of people filling their own pockets and so on. So, I think there’s cynicism about that. It’s more in the direction of ‘these people are all about making money and would sacrifice anything to make money and we’re therefore suspicious about anything like that going on in the public sector.’’ That’s a gross misrepresentation of how business operates.

The flip side of that is that they respect the fact that business does have the discipline to make money or make sure they don’t lose money and so they have a degree of support and optimism as things have evolved with the private sector being involved in these projects.

Q Looking back at the past 10 years either at the provincial or municipal level, what do you see as the biggest missed opportunity with respect to P3s?

A I would say everything. Where do I start? I would start with public transportation and transit, only because that’s core infrastructure that we’ve not tended to properly in 25 years, which is why I’m pushing so hard now with my Civic Action hat on to get that done. I’m one of those people who would say that I’m a strong believer in public education and the way we’ve done that here, but if you said to me: ‘‘Would I go out there and join with philanthropists and other people and ask if anyone has any ideas about education where they would do something with private money,’’ and someone said ‘‘yeah, I’m going to create the Harvard of the north and I’m going to do it with private money or my money and we’re going to charge people $40,000 a year to go there’,’ and you ask me if I’m offended by that? I’m not — at least not to the point where I wouldn’t even ask the question.