Capital, Accumulation, and Crisis: Surveying the Neoliberal Waterscape of Municipal Privatization in Canada by Michael Keith Lang B.A., Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2011 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Sociology Michael Keith Lang, 2013 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Capital, Accumulation, and Crisis: Surveying the Neoliberal Waterscape of Municipal Privatization in Canada by Michael Keith Lang B.A., Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2011 Supervisory Committee William K. Carroll, Supervisor Department of Sociology Peyman Vahabzadeh, Committee Member Department of Sociology iii Abstract Supervisory Committee William K. Carroll, Supervisor Department of Sociology Peyman Vahabzadeh, Committee Member Department of Sociology While the outright privatization of water services has declined globally, it has been replaced with public-private partnerships (P3s) in the government procurement and delivery of water services, and increasingly at the local level. This research finds that such initiatives are on the rise in Canada, and considering the overall record of failure that has amounted from varied types of water privatization thus far, it seeks to analyze this expanding waterscape from a critical perspective. More specifically, by historically situating the privatization of Canadian municipal water in a political-economic context that identifies its relation to contemporary (neoliberal) capitalism, this research examines how the focused state commitment to water P3s is indicative of the processes of neoliberalization. I argue that regulatory and budgetary changes since the economic crisis of 2008 have formed an institutionalized policy apparatus that essentially forces needy municipalities into long-term contracts with private firms, therefore establishing sustained sites for capital accumulation. This thesis concludes with a discussion concerning the implications that such a “partnership” will have for municipal autonomy, organized labour, and the environment, particularly in light of the intensifying state focus on international free trade. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ........................................................................................................... ii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... vii Dedication .............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Political-Economic Context ............................................................................. 7 NeoliBeralism ..................................................................................................................................... 7 NeoliBeralism as Ideology .............................................................................................................. 8 NeoliBeralization ............................................................................................................................ 12 NeoliBeral Canada .......................................................................................................................... 16 Capital Accumulation .................................................................................................................... 22 Contradictions of Accumulation ............................................................................................... 27 Capital and Crisis ............................................................................................................................ 29 Canada, The Crisis, and Austerity ............................................................................................. 33 Chapter 3: Water Governance and Public-Private Partnerships .......................... 38 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Section 1: Water Governance ..................................................................................................... 38 Traditional Water Management in Canada ........................................................................... 38 The Development of NeoliBeral Waters ................................................................................. 39 Commercialization and Corporatization ................................................................................ 42 Water Privatization ....................................................................................................................... 43 The GloBal Effects of Water Privatization .............................................................................. 46 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 49 Section 2: PuBlic-Private Partnerships in Canada .............................................................. 50 Why Not P3s? ................................................................................................................................... 53 Not P3s! .............................................................................................................................................. 58 P3s as Privatization ....................................................................................................................... 64 The Waterscape of Canadian Municipal P3s ......................................................................... 66 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 4: Post-Crisis Policy Change and Water Sector NeoliBeralization ....... 71 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 71 P3s Since the Crisis ........................................................................................................................ 71 The NeoliBeralization of Municipal Governance ................................................................. 79 P3 Policy and Municipal Water ................................................................................................. 84 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 5: Water P3s and Private Capital Accumulation ........................................ 89 v Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 89 Municipal Water P3s as a Spatial-Temporal Fix .................................................................. 89 Accumulation By Dispossession or PuBlic-Private Expropriation? .............................. 92 The Implications of International Trade ............................................................................... 94 The Impact on Labour .................................................................................................................. 97 The Secondary Contradiction of Municipal Privatization ................................................ 98 Resistance to P3s: AbBotsford-Mission, BC ........................................................................... 99 Alternatives to Privatization .................................................................................................... 102 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 104 Future Research ........................................................................................................................... 106 BiBliography .................................................................................................................................. 108 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Degree of Private-sector Involvement in P3s ................................................................ 53 Figure 2: P3s in Municipal Water, Per Year .................................................................................... 67 Figure 3: Canadian Municipal Water P3s, 2008-2013 ............................................................. 69 vii Acknowledgments I want to first thank the individuals working in the sociology department at UVic for their support though this whole process. Particularly Zoe Lu, for her quick and lighthearted feedback at many