By PETER ZIMONJIC, QMI Agency Toronto Sun:
OTTAWA — The RCMP is spending close to $4 million to protect the Olympic torch and the 12,000 people carrying it across the country to Vancouver. According to documents released through Access to Information, the cost of protecting the relay was first budgeted at $1.67 million in the fall of 2007, but that has since increased to $3.9 million. “It was a planning issue,” said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Mike Cote. “The $1.67 million was very early in the forecasting. After setting up the operational planning and forecasting the true operational cost, it rose to $3.9 million.” Cote says planning for the torch relay was still being done weeks before it started in October. He says the RCMP’s Integrated Security Unit is confident the cost won’t increase further.
The ISU, which is also responsible for security at the Olympic venues, is led by the RCMP but also includes police officers on loan from forces across the country and some 4,500 Canadian Forces troops. The cost of the torch relay is only a small part of the overall security budget, which is $900 million but was originally budgeted at $175 million in 2003.
1 comment:
The sad and disgusting part of all this money being spent on Security is that our military personnel have to live in tents in Aldergrove while the IOC and their ilk live in 5 Star accomodations.
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