Desperate for cash, the Carney government is looking to privatize airports. This move will be great for capitalist investors, but will only make life worse for working-class Canadians.
The breakdown in the international order and trade war with America has forced the Canadian government to attempt to reorganize the economy to reduce dependency on the U.S. market. In order to do so, the government has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to new military spending and corporate welfare schemes. But with record high debt and deficits, Carney has to find a way to pay for these things.
This explains why Carney, who was not elected on privatizing infrastructure, is now exploring this option. He claims that the sale of airports could fetch as much as $100 billion. This money will go straight to corporate subsidies and military spending, not towards anything that will benefit working class people.
On top of this, privatization would allow predatory investors to increase the costs of air travel through charging landing fees which are pushed onto customers in the form of increased ticket prices. In Australia, where major airports were privatized in the 1990s and 2000s, the cost of air travel massively increased.
Airports, as basic infrastructure, are functionally monopolies. This is why they are so attractive to investors. They can squeeze their workers and raise fees without being concerned about losing out to competition. As airports are essential to travel and trade, they guarantee a consistent stream of profit.
Therefore, selling off airports is an easy way to scrounge up some cash.
The fight against privatization is a fight against capitalism
Airports are just one part of the ruling class’s plan to sell off Canada’s infrastructure. For years, they have waged a campaign to privatize Canada Post, and now Carney has announced that he is considering privatizing major ports.
These privatizations will make life worse for the working class, but from the standpoint of capitalism, they are the logical next step. The crisis of Canadian capitalism is forcing the ruling class to look for anything that they can squeeze a profit out of.
This is the natural result of an economy that is run in the interest of profit. For that reason, the fight against privatization is a fight against capitalism.
