Recent
Watch also...
G8 and G20: $200 million for bug spray, rental cars, lunch, parking and communication
By Janice Tibbetts
OTTAWA — The federal government spent more than $200 million on hotel bills, rental cars, bug spray, box lunches, communications equipment, parking, and numerous other items, according to a cost breakdown for the G8 and G20 summits.
Government records show that hundreds of suppliers secured contracts for services rendered for the June summits, held in Toronto and Huntsville, Ont., including a $334,000 bill for sun screen, bug spray and hand sanitizer.
The government has estimated the total summit tab to be about $1 billion and the newly released documents reveal contract spending for about one quarter of the overall bill.
The contracts provide an inside view of the spending for the international gatherings, which were dubbed by the political opposition as the most expensive three days in Canadian history.
The 27 pages of records show that a hundred dollars here and another million dollars there added up to contract spending of about $203 million for the Public Works Department and the RCMP alone, two of the several entities involved in the two summits.
Foreign Affairs, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and RCMP staffing costs were not included in the documents.
The documents show the government paid $4.4 million for a summit security fence, millions of dollars in hotels bills at several locations, millions more for food and rental vehicles, and awarded more than 100 contracts to supply communications equipment.
While summit spending was lambasted by the political opposition, Canada’s parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, concluded in a June report that costs of international leaders gatherings have grown significantly in recent years and there is nothing to show that the tab for the G8 and G20 summits was out of line with other countries.
Page cautioned in his report that he was not drawing any conclusions about whether Canadians were getting value for their money.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser is also conducting an audit of summit spending.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/million+spray+rental+cars+lunch/3569327/story.html#ixzz10NoCDMwv
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/million+spray+rental+cars+lunch/3569327/story.html