Photo Credit: Paul Demko
If the recent demand to conduct a performance audit on the $533 million spent by the House and Senate each year has your attention, then you may be interested to know why Ottawa expects to burn through $833 million on the upcoming G8 and G20 summits next month. With the news, it’s practically making Parliament Hill look like a bargain in comparison.
The previous estimates of $179 million in March has since ballooned to nearly a billion dollars, reminiscent of the Olympic security fiasco originally budgeted at $175 million that ended up coming in at over a billion.
But while some folks might be understanding of the security arrangements for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the city of Vancouver to host the Olympic Games, it’s more than a little ridiculous to spend that amount twice in a single year. And for what? A meeting of political elites to discuss issues such as poverty, deficits, and out-of-control spending? You can’t make up irony this thick.
There’s something positively preposterous about spending $833 million on keeping poverty demonstrators at bay.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has even hinted that costs could rise by another $100 million — which means you can expect they almost certainly will — so the government has budgeted up to $930 million for a “medium-threat basis.”
What does that even mean? Does it really cost $1 billion to protect a bunch of politicians from people with placards? And if so, maybe it’s not worth hosting at all. What is the cost effectiveness of bringing together the equivalent of the world’s political aristocracy to talk about things they could have just as easily done via video feed? I mean, aren’t these the same leaders who went to Copenhagen to discuss cutting carbon emissions?
Let’s face it. If it costs a billion dollars to bring together world leaders without having demonstrators tear them to pieces, perhaps we shouldn’t be doing it at all. And if it really needs to be done, why pick the most populous area of Canada to do it in? How much would it cost to rent out a banquet hall in Iqaluit?
I suspect that much of the security overkill is based on fanciful contingency planning and a preparedness to do battle should a Viking naval fleet decide to sack Toronto during this time. Perhaps we should install a missile defence shield while we’re at it. Or an SDI system to thwart incoming nuclear warheads?
Maybe next time we should organize a BYOS event [Bring Your Own Security].
Have they not heard of teleconferencing?
And they aren’t even talking about the number one issue in politics, what to do about climate change.
Adrian,
I think that they should offer to host the G20 and G8 in Iqaluit in January. Pay 25-50 Million and I am sure that you could build a very nice banquet hall and buildings up there. Fly all of the leaders up from around the world. And let the protesters go up there. I am sure that there would be lots of them braving the weather.
Rocky
That’s actually a very good idea Rocky. It’s not like the physical proximity of the tens of thousands of protesters has much meaning to the world leaders anyway, the protests can be held in Ottawa, and across the country instead, and security will be cheap.
At these prices we could have rented a few luxury cruise ships to park off shore from Toronto’s harbour.Planes could fly in the elite’s to be ferried out to the Ships while security Harbour boats circle the Liners. Helo-decks fly in others by choppers from the Island airport.
Protester can yell and scream from any Peir slip and use bullhorns to spew propaganda at will.
New Cruise ships were built to fit through the St.Lawrence locks,so at least all those drunken morons with Diplomatic immunity won’t be killing canadians with cars and tying up our Police and Courts . Plus,if the odd fat-cat bozo falls over board then it’s more food for the rest of us.
Remember….you’re not a “Missing Person” if no one is looking for you or misses you.
The Liberals will bich & moan about how much this will cost the Canadian taxpayers.
The Liberals will bitch and moan if we DON’T spend this money.
Saskboy…I thought you were being sarcastic…then I noticed your name and realized that you were being serious.
Which made me laugh!
Climate change…they are forecasting snow for Friday….please let the climate change!!
My question would be how they arrived at the figure. I can only imagine that it includes the salaries of all of the RCMP, Military and other government employees involved. If that is so, then the number is a bit of a red herring as those salaries would be paid anyway. Kinda makes you wonder, does it not?
This is the probably the last meeting of the G8, and likely all future G20 meetings should be hosted by China.
I bet they can keep security costs down and protesters at bay.
Wasn’t it a Liberal Government that requested the G-8 come to Canada.
The alternative ideas presented here would probably cost much less. The problem with them is that they are outside the box ideas and therefore not accessible to the politicians and bureacrats that spend money. It would be cheap to create a faciltiy in the north, provide jobs for the locals, and (depending on the remoteness of the location where the facility is built) would be a strong sign of Canadian sovereignty in the region.
Perhaps they should meet on some submarine in the middle of some ocean. Would love to see the protesters trying to swim out to it.
I just hope a lot of protesters get arrested and jailed for a long time. They have no hope in hades to change anything on the agenda. All they do is allow us to see what fools they are, little terrorists in training. Anyone in a face mask, automatic arrest.
Instead of having it in Deerhurst they should have gone to some more remote resorts in the area and spread it out. In those areas mosquitos and black flies would take care of any protesters.
Mary, you really think the police should face arrest? You do realize they show up with face masks, right?
What about Canada’s Charter of Rights and freedoms? You don’t believe in the rights that our troops are fighting to protect, and the police enforce? Protesters have a right to peaceful assembly.
What have our troops got to do with those terrorists in training showing up in face masks to protest and cause trouble. Your insinuation they are only there for peaceful purposes is the stupidest thing I have ever read.
Prove the police are in face masks, not protective gear. As for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is only for trouble makers. Never supported PET effort to ruin Canada.
Arrest all of them showing up and charge them with guilt by association.
They might be better liked if they got a job and made a real contribution to our Country.
The troops are defending Canadians’ rights, including our right to protest injustice, peacefully. If there’s no Constitution to defend, what’s the point of having a Canadian military or police force?
Scroll up Mary, Adrian’s photo at the top shows protesters without masks, and police with them. That it also doubles as protective gear is the same argument protesters can use too. It’s not a crime to be anonymous in public, or to wear a mask if you’re not out committing a crime.
There is no “guilt by association” in Canada, fortunately. Most protesters I know do have jobs; do you? What makes them different from you, you’re a protester on blogs; are too scared to show up in person to defend what you believe in?
Saskboy -
Classy move to equate the police with protesters. As we all know police ALWAYS instigate violence.
[...] The Conservative government is full of liars, criminals*, and boondogglers wasting your money faster than you can make it. [...]
So Saskboy, are you one of the protesters. And yes, I do have a job, my own accounting and tax preparation business, run out of my home.
If there isn’t a guilt by association, there should be, or maybe they could be charged as accomplices. I guess you don’t like the truth to get out about all those ekowackos, save the seals, fund gay pride and every other protest movement out there. And if they have jobs, shouldn’t they be working.
Do they plan their holidays to protest. I have absolutely no support for them. And now it comes out that damages will not be paid for by the govt. Class action suit against every org involved filed by all business who suffer damage or inconvenience because of their stupidity, for about 10 million dollars. Members of said group to be liable.
Funny you should bring that up Ha:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur remember the SPP?
Yes Mary sometimes I’m a protester, and I’m proud of that, it’s an honourable position to hold in a democratic (and even non-democratic) system.
I’m not really sure what you’re going off about in your second paragraph, but if you’re in favour of guilt by association, and arresting protesters on sight, you’re not really in favour of a democratic system. That sort of attitude might fly in China, Iran or Pakistan, but in Canada, people have rights.
Saskboy-
Any evidence that the SPP instigated violence? I didn’t see any. Are you seriously alleging the police wants to instigate VIOLENCE??
What about the thousands of professional protestors flown into belgium? They destroyed public property, instigated violence, and killed several.
What about the destruction of private property in Vancouver, was that the police?
The pattern of leftwing protesters becoming violent is quite clear. Their proclivity to use our freedoms against us is clear: they are ‘scared’ to protest in anywhere but the most liberal of societies.
Protestors by convencience.
Just think of the billion spent as just more stimulus spending, like that pushed by the pseudo-coalition last year, and happily agreed to by the CPC.
As long as it’s not their money, they’re happy to do it!
Why the hell are we worried about a billion, when we’ve blown 50 times that much on the “non-recession”.
[...] diminish the role that protesters play in our democratic system. I know I’m not supposed to feed the trolls, or be bothered by them, but it’s not possible to love your country’s freedoms and [...]