November 17, 2014 Private, unregulated drivers licensing centres leave public interest in the dust: NDP MPP Cimino QUEEN’S PARK — As questions continue to grow about the province’s unregulated drivers licensing centres, NDP Transportation critic Joe Cimino called on the Liberal government to publicly release its contract with the multinational corporation that operates the province’s DriveTest centres. One month after it was revealed that the provincial government allows unregulated license mills to train drivers of tractor-trailers, it was reported today that Serco, the private multinational corporation that runs the DriveTest centres, does not always test these drivers on highways. This news comes one month after the Minister of Transportation made the claim that: “there are specific standards and requirements for commercial driver testing that our service provider must meet.” “Today we learned that the government has no idea whether Serco is meeting these standards,” said Cimino, MPP for Sudbury. “That’s because last year, the government gave Serco the power to police itself, leaving it up to Serco to verify its own performance, and leaving it up to Serco to tell the minister that it had failed to do its job properly.” In 2003, the Harris Conservatives privatized driver’s licensing centres, signing a ten year contract with Serco, which also runs private prisons and private hospitals. “Contracting out has been a disaster, leading to a long strike in 2009. But instead of cutting ties with Serco, as the NDP demanded, last year the Liberal government signed up for another ten years.” explained Cimino. “And this time, the contract is even worse! — with less accountability and fewer protections for Ontario drivers.” The government refuses to say how many inspectors, if any, are overseeing Serco’s operations. “Instead of outsourcing accountability to yet another public-private partnership, will the government publicly release the uncensored Serco contract, all audit reports and ministry reviews of DriveTest, and tell us the number of inspectors in charge of overseeing Serco’s performance?” asked Cimino. -30-
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:23:16 +0000
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