Public Funds, Private Provision: The Role of the Voluntary Sector

L. Richard Lund is a Ph.D. candidate in history at York University.

Rising deficits and neoconservatism brought many changes to the Canadian
welfare state during the 1980s. One such development was the growing
trend toward contracting out the delivery of social services to
nonprofit agencies. This book examines the shift to what the author
terms “voluntary organizations” by focusing on British Columbia
between 1983 and 1991.

The Social Credit government in that province encouraged voluntary
organizations to submit competitive bids for purchase-of-service
contracts, in the belief that this application of market principles to
the welfare state would substantially cut costs. In addition, the
Socreds argued that the decentralized voluntary sector was more
innovative and responsive to client needs than the bloated provincial
civil service, which too often promoted its own agenda at the expense of
public needs.

Rekart raises a number of important questions about the long-term
impact of social-service privatization. Historically, voluntary
organizations revealed inadequacies in government policy by responding
to previously ignored social problems with innovative, flexible
programs. But will increasing dependence on public money rob the
voluntary sector of its ability to play this valuable role in the
future? Voluntary organizations could become little more than a shadow
civil service; rather than gain a greater say in service provision,
British Columbians might experience increased frustration as a result of
having to deal with an extra layer of bureaucracy. Rekart also questions
how much money will be saved and whether the government can hold
voluntary organizations sufficiently accountable for the quality of
services.

These are complex questions with few clear-cut answers; the evidence
reveals great variation between government departments and even
individual contracts with regard to the impact of privatization.
However, considering the impressive amount of research put into this
book, the reader can reasonably expect a stronger conclusion than Rekart
delivers. Inexplicably, she remains noncommittal on the central issue of
whether privatization of social services in British Columbia has, on
balance, delivered enough of what its supporters promised to justify
furthering the process there and in other provinces.