Ward Elcock awaits his appearance before the Commons public-safety committee on Oct., 25, 2010.Adrian Wyld
Former spy chief Ward Elcock says it cost London less than Canada to host a G20 meeting because the British capital had more cops on hand and didn't need to house and feed out-of-town police forces.
When London bobbies finished a shift at the Group of 20 meeting in April, 2009, they would "simply go home for tea," Mr. Elcock told the Commons public-safety committee.
Mr. Elcock managed the RCMP's integrated security unit for Canada's G8 and G20 meetings in June - events that came under heavy fire from opposition parties for running up $1.3-billion security bills.
He defended the spending before MPs Monday, saying Canada's security costs were much higher than those posted by other countries for similar events because Ottawa was more open about the full gamut of costs.
"I have yet to see a complete budget for any other G8 or G20 that's been held anywhere else in the world," Mr. Elcock told MPs.
"The reality is that in terms of countries reporting the full costs, we are probably the most transparent jurisdiction in the world."
One reason that other countries have reported smaller security bills is that they have larger police forces on hand and have to spend less on overtime or accommodation for officers brought in from outside the host city.
"The police force in London ... they have a large number of police within the London area and would not therefore need to call for additional forces from across the country," Mr. Elcock said.
"And we would have to do [that]in any G8 or G20," he said.
"There are no accounts [in the British costs]for the accommodation of the police - or the necessary all the care and feeding of the police. ... They simply go home for tea."
Steven Chase