Steve Cardiff, the NDP MLA for Mount Lorne, wants to know the details of the Yukon government's relationship with Partnerships BC.

'I'm very concerned about the transparency and the honesty of this government and their relationship with Partnerships BC,' Cardiff said in an interview this week.

The organization is a Crown-owned corporation in British Columbia. It has been involved in securing public-private partnership (P3) projects for that government in the past.

P3s are agreements between the government and a private sector organization, usually for the purpose of providing public infrastructure.

Partnerships BC was advising the government on the recently indefinitely-delayed Dawson City bridge over the Yukon River. The bridge was meant to be used as a pilot project to develop a policy on how to implement P3s in the Yukon.

When the procurement process for the bridge was cancelled, Highways and Public Works Minister Glenn Hart said the government will look to another project to use for developing a P3 policy in the territory.

The government is also being advised by Partnerships BC on the Mobile Communications Solutions project, said Suromitra Sanatani, the organization's vice-president of corporate and government communications.

The project will establish a public safety mobile radio system that can be used by the RCMP, health and safety professionals as well as an enhanced cellular telephone network.

However, Darren Butt, communications advisor with the Department of Highways and Public Works, said despite Partnerships BC's involvement, this is not a P3 pilot project.

It will not be the government nor Partnerships BC that decides if this project will be a P3, said Butt. It will be the proponents and their proposal models that will determine if the government goes forward with the project as a P3, he said.

Cardiff said those statements are 'confusing, because the mandate of Partnerships BC is public-private partnerships.'

The government has stated that it will be looking into other pilot projects and the public has the right to know what they are, said Cardiff.

'They need to clarify Partnerships BC's role in this project,' he said.

'(Partnerships BC is) only interested in projects that make sense (as P3s),' said Sanatani, adding that P3s are not a fix to all problems and are not good for every project.

Very few projects the organization has advised on in the past have ever been cancelled, she added.

Besides the Dawson bridge, the only other project Sanatani could think of is the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia. However, she said, that project was not nearly as far along in its process as the bridge. The highway had not even reached its request for proposals before it was cancelled.

'There's always a clause for the buyer (the government) to cancel the project at any time,' she said.

The bridge's cancellation was at the sole discretion of the YTG, said Sanatani, who added that rising costs are having an impact on projects throughout Canada.

Partnerships BC will continue to work as an advisor to the YTG, she said, and the organization has enjoyed working with the Yukon thus far.

However, there is no contract in the government's registry that even confirms what the YTG's association with Partnerships BC is, said Cardiff. That makes it difficult to even know what the government is paying the organization for.

Yet, its advisor's role was clearly evident in the request for qualifications regarding the public safety mobile radio system put out earlier this year. The document indicated that any questions were to be directed to Partnerships BC and included a contact name and phone number for the organization.

The YTG is paying Partnerships BC $240,000 in advising costs for this particular project, $200,000 of which has been spent so far, said Butt.

The YTG has received 'excellent' information and advice from the organization up to this point, he added.

Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said it doesn't make sense to have advisors from another jurisdiction if this will not be a P3. There is a civil service with expertise and qualifications to determine the needs of the project in the Yukon, he added.

'Are they (Partnerships BC) now going to advise on every project?' asked Mitchell.

The organization has been selected to provide advice on the project because it has extensive experience in the industry and solid experience in implementing this type of project, said Butt.

Partnerships BC is not necessarily exclusively a P3 organization, he said.

'If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck,' said Cardiff. 'If Partnerships BC is involved in the proposal process, what's their role? Their mandate is public-private partnerships.

'Did we receive advice on if this should be a P3? Yes,' Butt stated.

He added that if it is not fiscally prudent to go forward in that manner, it won't be a P3.

However, the government should know from the outcome of the Dawson bridge project that P3s can be very expensive, said Cardiff.

The project's procurement process was cancelled after the bids submitted came in well above the $30 million to $35 million the government wanted to spend on the bridge.

The government's denials that this is a pilot project creates a suggestion of, 'It's a P3 every other day, but not a P3 today,' said Mitchell.

A press release put out by the government last week indicated it has identified Ice Wireless and Northwestel Inc. as qualified proponents for the cellphone network aspect of the project and they have been invited to prepare proposals for the project. A request for proposals is generally the second step in a P3 procurement process.

'The Mobile Communications Solution is the government's response to Yukoners who wish to see a more sophisticated and user-friendly communications system within the North,' Hart said in the press release.

Information on the public safety radio system of the mobile communications solution project has not yet been released.