Changing Course: Commercializing Canadian Airport, Port and Rail Governance- 1975 to 2000

This thesis examines the historical public policy circumstances surrounding the Government of Canada’s decision to commercialize Canadian National (CN) Railways, as well as federal airports and ports over the period 1975 to 2000. Its focus is on testing one specific empirical hypothesis: That the commercialization of federal airport and port assets between 1975 and 2000 occurred primarily due to: (i) federal government concerns over the growing size of the national debt and deficit; and (ii) the emergence of the neoliberal ideology in Canada and its growing influence throughout federal policy making, as witnessed by the swift 1995 privatization of CN Railways.