Summit security costs defended by Toews
$930M price tag 'shocking': Liberal MP
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 | 11:45 AM ET
CBC News
Protesters confront police in London in April 2009 as thousands of demonstrators converged on the centre of the city to protest against the G20 summit. (Owen Humphreys/Associated Press)Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is defending the estimated $930 million cost for security for next month's G8 and G20 meetings as the "most efficient and effective" use of public money for Canada's "unprecedented" hosting of back-to-back international summits.
The federal government disclosed $654 million in new money for security for the two international summits being held in Ontario next month, on top of $179 million already earmarked. And the tally could grow another $100 million, according to Toews's office.
In an interview with CBC News on Wednesday, Toews insisted the estimate was not a cost overrun and said the summits were actually moved closer together to save money.
"This has been budgeted for, and the money is released as it is required," Toews said.
He said comparing the cost for security at the summits to the $898 million spent on the Vancouver Olympics was like comparing "apples and oranges" because the G8 and G20 meetings require a very "different type" of security because of so many heads of nations visiting at once.
"Granted there were some heads of nations at the Olympics, but nowhere in the configuration or the numbers that are going to be here," Toews said. "I don't think you can say, 'Well, because it's seven days instead of 14 days, it should be half the price.' It simply doesn't work that way."
The face-to-face meetings, he said, allow leaders to deal with issues that simply can't be handled over the phone or by video-conference.
Single venue would have saved money: Holland
G8 leaders will gather in Huntsville, Ont., late next month, then join other world leaders for the G20 summit in the heart of downtown Toronto. The money will be used for planning, accommodation, information technology and working with security partners to protect leaders and their delegations.
Liberal MP Mark Holland called the cost "shocking," and said the government could have reduced security by hosting both summits at a single location, instead of the "logistical nightmare" of two separate venues hundreds of kilometres apart.
Holland said security for the summits is critical, but the government shouldn't be handed a blank cheque.
"We're not talking about cutting corners; we're talking about proper planning," Holland told CBC News on Wednesday. "They tried to force a round peg into a square hole."
Security plans for the G20 meeting in Toronto feature two fenced areas — an outside fence that will close off a large section of the downtown and an inner fence that will control access to hotels and the convention centre.
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