Police escort a G20 summit protester away from a demonstration in Toronto on June 25, 2010.Fernando Morales/The Globe and Mail
The $1-billion price tag for Toronto's G20 Summit is well known. Now the nitty gritty details are in.
They reveal hundreds of thousands were spent by the RCMP on hotels ranging from the Barrie Days Inn to the Sutton Place Hotel in the city's downtown core in order to accommodate the flood of police officers from across the country who arrived in the city for the international summit.
The list of expenses also details some of the police equipment purchased for the event, but no descriptions are offered as to what might be involved in a $18,436.95 purchase of "Fireballs - Code 3 Dashlasers with option" or $22,585.77 spent on "Mass Casualty Kits."
A spokesman for the RCMP said fireballs are portable red flashing lights that plug into a cigarette lighter. They are used by unmarked police cars to identify them as emergency vehicles.
Expenses worth tens of thousands were approved on cameras and $282,412.43 was spent on a "geomatics requirement."
The department of Public Works paid the $315,000 tab for "high-end furniture," as well as nearly $2-million for an exhibit called "Invest in Canada." The expenses also list a $246,000 charge for a "living wall" and $31,390 for flag poles.
The material was tabled in the House of Commons this week in response to a written request from Liberal MPDan McTeague.
Bill Curry