I’ll start: Energy. Everything from oil/natural gas extraction, transformation, transportation and sales to nuclear enrichment, nuclear electricity production, hydro electricity production and distribution.
Anything that is considered a utility or necessary for the function of a nation state, including all schooling, health care and other socially important services.
Isn’t that already the case though? Aren’t hospitals and schools mostly public except for a few private ones?
Maybe make them ALL public and forbid any private for-profit health care and education facilities. This will force the more priviledged to invest in that system if they want the best service for themselves and their children.
Didn’t some Scandinavian country do this already?
schools mostly public except for a few private ones?
About those exceptions…
Public money shouldn’t be going to private schools.
If you want your kid to be in some elitist private school, you should pay the entire cost. Otherwise the public system is always an option.
Diverting public funds away from the public education system just weakens the public system.
Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say about some Scandinavian country.
In Finland it is forbidden to have private schools. All education is public. So if some rich family want what’s best for their kids, they’ll have to invest in the system like everybody else.
Cloud data storage and services.
Obviously telecom. We used to own our transatlantic cables, now we barely have one and we don’t own it.
That’s a very good point. Telecom infrastructure is so important. And because it’s privately owned, it’s not extended to every corner of Canada or in communities in far regions. We rely on things like Musk’s Starling to bring internet to northern communities.
When electricity was made public in Québec under René Levesque with Hydro Québec, the broken down private electricity production and distribution networks were fixed, updated and expanded across the province. It’s become the pride of Québec and a god damn good example of how these essential services need to be provided.
Food supply lines.
Yeah, I read in some other thread that the Canadian wheat board was Saudi owned. Here’s a source that confirms it. And of course it was Harper’s doing. This is essentially what made me ask this question here.
Food production and distribution should absolutely be owned by Canada. It’s insane that something so fundamentally important is at the mercy of foreiegn interests, especially those with whom we are now in a trade war.
How nobody did anything about this the entire time the Liberals were in power, and especially now, is mind boggling.
Rail.
Absolutely.
CN used to be a crown corp but was privatized in the 1990’s under Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives. Thatcherism and neoliberalism at its finest.
CP Rail has always been private.
It’s a key infrastructure that should definitely be publicly owned.
Via Rail is also a crown corp though.
Via Rail operations are at the mercy of CP and CN given their ownership (and lack of maintenance) of the tracks, though.
Precisely why CN needs to be re-nationalized. They’re in the way of getting half-decent passenger rail going.
I think Via needs to make substantial changes to become half-decent still, but that would still improve it.
