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OPP release details of G8/G20 summit costs
The Ontario Provincial Police have released some details of the millions of dollars spent on policing during the G8 and G20 summits.
The details released Thursday relate only to items costing more than $5,000, which amounted to $56 million.
That amount represents only about half of the $100 million the OPP spent on the summits, held in Huntsville and Toronto the weekend of June 26-27.
Of the $56 million, the majority of the costs, $52.3 million, related to the G8 summit in Huntsville, even though the majority of protests and police confrontations occurred during the G20 summit in Toronto.
The largest expenses, $17.2 million, came under the heading goods and services, followed by $15.4 million for staff overtime, $9.9 million for salaries and $8.3 million for telecommunications hardware, infrastructure and labour.
Other expenses included nearly $900,000 for vehicle leases, $860,000 for employee expenses (meals, travel and mileage), $907,000 for gas masks, $449,000 for gas mask fit testing and $273,000 for portable toilets and wash stations.
As well, $9,500 was spent on video camera batteries and memory cards, $12,900 for psychological services, $22,000 for backpacks, $24,000 for bug jackets and $24,000 for laundry services.
The federal Liberals had accused the Conservative government of hiding the details of the OPP spending to protect Julian Fantino, who is running for the Tories in the Nov. 29 byelection to replace outgoing Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua in Vaughan, Ont.
Fantino, who was OPP commissioner during the G8/G20 summits, was responsible for overseeing the spending.
Earlier this month, the federal government revealed it spent nearly $858 million on the summits, 25 per cent lower than the initial estimated cost of $1.13 billion.