It will cost as much to secure the three day G8 / G20 summit as it did the 17-day Vancouver Olympics. This $900 million bill has raised eyebrows of taxpayers and even incurred the wrath of Rex Murphy.

The $930 million bill is 31 times that of the G20 Summit in the UK in April of 2009, which cost $30 million. Part of the problem, apparently, is that it was held in downtown Toronto, which is apparently nightmare to secure. So, why was it held there anyway? More details...

The RCMP is so far slated to receive more than $450-million in extra funding for its role in co-ordinating security at the summits. That’s equivalent to 16 per cent of its $2.8-billion annual budget....

Derek Fildebrandt, national research director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the security bill Ottawa is racking up is surprising.

“You shouldn’t skimp on security. But that being said … clearly there must be room for efficiencies,” Mr. Fildebrandt said.

He quipped that the Canadian spending plans appear to be designed to juice the economy rather than merely protect world leaders.

“If security has been fine at previous summits – and the costs are this far over [those] then clearly this must be a part of the economic stimulus package.”