TORONTO—Canada's Conservative government said Friday it had no choice but to spend nearly $1 billion on security for next month's G-8 and G-20 summits.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's spokesman Dimitri Soudas said no government wants to spend more than $900 million for security but he said it's necessary to ensure the safety of world leaders, thousands of delegates and the citizens of Toronto and Huntsville, Ontario.
Harper's government has come under heavy criticism for budgeting $930 Canadian (US$885 million).
"This is nothing to be embarrassed about," Soudas said.
By comparison, the stated amount spent by Pittsburgh on security for last September's G-20 summit was US$12.4 million. London's stated amount for the G-20 last year was US$10.9 million.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Pat Flood said the security budget for Canada's G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in 2002 was $300 million Canadian (US$285 million).
Canada is hosting the Group of 20 economic summit June 26-27 in Toronto. The G-20 is the group of leading rich and developing nations. The Group of Eight -- the group of leading industrial nations -- summit is being held in Huntsville, Ontario, June 25-26.
The near $1 billion tab in Canada comes as the governments of the G-20 conference are expected to discuss getting their deficits and debt under control.
Opposition New Democratic Leader Jack Layton called it a billion-dollar boondoggle and opposition Liberal lawmaker Mark Holland said it was the most expensive 72 hours of meetings in history.
Canada's Parliamentary Budget officer is considering an audit of the security budget. The government has vowed to detail all of the costs after the summits.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil, the head of security for the summits, noted that Canada is hosting back-to-back summits for the first time.
"It's a huge operation," MacNeil said. "That security comes with a cost."
The government has said $450 million Canadian (US$429 million) will be spent on the mounted police, a lot of it on overtime.
The mounted police declined to say how many officers will be deployed, but thousands are expected. A massive temporary accommodations facility is being built in Huntsville and officers will be housed in hotels in Toronto. The leaders of the G-8 will be flown by helicopter from Huntsville to Toronto for the start of the G-20.
Police also unveiled Friday the extent of the security zone Toronto residents will face. The headquarters of Canada's largest banks are outside the security perimeter of the G-20 summit despite being next door and a potential target for protesters. Anti-G20 slogans were spray-painted overnight at several downtown Toronto banks and a bank branch in Ottawa was fire bombed earlier this month.
Toronto city councilor Adam Vaughan also blasted the federal government for not reimbursing property owners for broken windows or other protest-related damage during the G-20 summit.
"If Stephen Harper can spend a billion dollars protecting his photo opp he can spend money protecting the businesses and the residents in the area he's staging this event," Vaughan said.
Canada's Conservative government had originally planned to host just the G-8 summit in Huntsville, the district of one of Harper's cabinet ministers. After it was announced in Pittsburgh that the G-20 would take over the role of the pre-eminent council on global economic cooperation, Canada started planning for two summits.
The government had planned on hosting both summits in Huntsville, but the G-20 venue was changed to Toronto, Canada's largest city, after concerns surfaced that the smaller town and surrounding area could not provide all the resources needed for such a huge event.
The costs of providing security in two locations is much greater. It is expected to be higher than the $900 million Canadian (US$864 million) the government estimated it spent on security during the 17-day Vancouver Olympic Games.
