Privatization showed its face in the Maritimes again last week, and as you might expect most officials saw nothing but pimples and buck teeth.

The New Brunswick Liquor Corporation has released a 73-page report that raised the issue of whether the Crown corporation should be sold. The review, led by NBLC president and CEO Daniel Allain, decided it should remain in public hands.

If that ruling failed to elicit gasps of surprise, journalists in Nova Scotia asked New Democrat Finance Minister Graham Steele whether he believed the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation should be sold. His reply? No. This is probably because it would prove almost impossible to replace the roughly $220 million the province receives each year from the NSLC.

I’m not surprised by all of this, just disappointed. Privatization in this region is generally viewed as a self-interested proposal espoused by right-wing reactionaries. That’s why there have been extensive and successful privatization programs in such hotbeds of neo-conservative nastiness as France, Sweden, Spain, Cuba, Germany, Vietnam, and China.

What disappoints me most is the rigid thinking and lack of imagination that governments in the region possess when considering privatization. We have a large asset. Should we or should we not sell 100% of it now? The answer is usually no, and we move on.

Within these large state-owned entities are pockets of innovation that should be considered for privatization. The amount of money they raise for governments wouldn’t be huge, but each represents an opportunity to establish a young competitive company and grow the private sector. Each province does something similar by providing seed capital to young companies. Why not spin off government-owned businesses with established income streams and let them grow by selling to international markets?

Consider the Halifax–Dartmouth Bridge Commission. We can debate whether it should be entirely privatized another time, but for now let’s consider part of its operations.

The Bridge Commission owns an electronic, state-of-the-art toll system called MACPASS, which is also used on the Cobequid Pass, the Confederation Bridge, and the parking lot at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The Bridge Commission should spin off this unit into a separate business so it can market the technology internationally and develop the product further.

The Bridge Commission wouldn’t have to sell it all off; it could sell a stake to a private operator and benefit from the growth of the business, then sell the remainder and make a decent return after the business has grown.

In that scenario the Bridge Commission, which needs almost $600 million in capital in the next 15 years, would gain money, and the region would get another tech company with established revenues. Everyone would win.

There are other regional assets that could be packaged as businesses and sold. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation is working on expanding internationally because the demographics are dismal in its home market. I’d question whether the Crown corporation has a mandate to do so but would applaud the corporation spinning off a private unit based in Moncton to market its product abroad.

The possible privatization of NB Power is too politically sensitive to consider right now, but the Crown corporation has been working with other partners on a smart grid project called PowerShift Atlantic that should at least be considered for a spin off. If it produces a cutting-edge smart grid, there should be markets for its product. If it needs additional capital to do so, the best way may be to look for private investors who can pour money and expertise into the project.

In Atlantic Canada, we consider these sorts of solutions too rarely. I’d love to tell you that privatization is on the cutting edge of economic development, but it isn’t. It was cutting edge 30 years ago; today it’s an established economic practice in most of the world. It’s time for us to catch up.