Torch run security burns into police budgets

November 18, 2009 CBC News:

It's costing a lot of money to keep the Olympic torch secure as it makes its way across the country, and the amount spent on policing while the relay was on Vancouver Island is once again raising questions about how much the 2010 games will cost B.C. taxpayers. The Victoria police department said it spent $141,000 on training and overtime in its efforts to protect torchbearers and control crowds and traffic. The provincial minister responsible for the Games maintained Wednesday that it's not a cost that will be covered by Olympic organizers or the province. "This was done by the Victoria police department," B.C. Olympics Minister Mary McNeil told reporters. "I know there were costs that they incurred over and above for just that event but you'll have to talk to them about that." The city police department said it will trim spending in other areas to cover the cost of the relay.

Other communities were also reporting thousands of dollars spent on torch security costs. The Vancouver police department said it doesn't even have a rough estimate of how much it will cost to keep the traditional relay safe. The current plan is to use as many on-duty officers as possible. "We won't know any additional cost until likely after the torch run and our obligations to it within the city," said spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton. "Once it gets into the city, it could be a dynamic process."

In the legislature, the B.C. NDP hammered away at trying to get the government to admit to the total price tag of the Olympics, including ancillary expenses like torch relay security. "It's no surprise to the public that the Olympics will cost money, but this government is seems to be dead set on hiding exactly how much," said opposition leader Carole James. Money spent on policing the relay should be part of the government's total cost of the Games, according to opposition Olympics critic Kathy Corrigan. "If you start asking them about individual costs that everybody in the public would automatically assume are costs related to the Olympics and therefore Olympic costs, they're saying they're not Olympic costs!" Exactly how much it will cost to keep peace and order during the torch's four-day visit to other parts of Vancouver Island is still being calculated by seven different police departments.