G8 & G20 Security Cost ‘Over-the-top’?
CANADIANS STUCK WITH SKYROCKETTING SECURITY COSTS FOR G8 & G20
Ottawa – Canadians hoping for help in economically devastated regions of the country will be footing outrageously inflated security costs for the political elite instead said Carol Hughes while speaking to a motion calling for transparency in explaining the cost overruns. With security costs for the G8 and G20 meetings in Huntsville and Toronto set to exceed $1billion Hughes is predicting a summer of discontent for the Conservative government.
“Will Canadians come to accept the incredibly huge cost of security for these meetings? Will they forget about it over a hot, long summer? The government can only hope as much,” said Hughes in her speech late Tuesday. “Will this be another black eye that refuses to fade for the government? Only time will tell.”
The cost of security for these meetings has skyrocketed to 6 times the amount initially projected by the government. Once the number passed one billion dollars, it became difficult for the government to defend. $1 billion is more than we spent on security for the 17 days of the Winter Olympics.
Citing examples of communities in real need (Hornepayne where the Town-Centre requires immediate assistance), or those whose funding requests were denied (Gore Bay Airport – Elliot Lake Multiplex), Hughes told the Commons she simply could not support these over-the-top security costs
“My constituency, which sits in the epicentre of our recent and ongoing financial crisis, cannot support this,” said Hughes. “We will not condone spending outrageous sums to protect the elite while refusing to spend to protect the most vulnerable and those who have given their whole lives to build this country.”
The meetings, which will last for a three day period, have seen the security budget climb from a proposed $179 million to exceed $1 billion in a period of two months. The motion which called on the government to provide a detailed breakdown of how the money earmarked for security is being spent and an explanation of how the security budget was permitted to spiral out of control, passed the Commons in a narrow vote late Tuesday.
