Harper does well at these gatherings, ably representing Canadian interests. Certainly much better than Chretien who most of the time was an international embarassment. That’s much of the reason why this gab-fest is proceeding, and why the government wanted it in Canada - it was another opportunity for good domestic political capital for Harper, and to contrast him with the mediocrity in the opposition parties.

But the times are a changing. The pain this is causing the people in the areas affected, is unreasonable. Video-conference next time. Don’t give the nut-bars, anarchists, and various whack-jobs an opportunity to disrupt business and destroy property. It is insanity.

I agree that with today’s technology a terrific video conference could be arranged at a much lower cost. Alternatively, don’t hold the meeting in the centre of our largest city, in summer. Yellowknife in January would reduce the number of anarchists that would attend.

Peter you are on smart man…I wondered the same thing…why in these economic times could’t it all be sorted out with video conferencing? When I was deeply involved in the Diabetes world I got them to cut back to one annual meeting & we chucked the semi annual…we didn’t have video conferencing in those days. Maybe Don & Geoffrey could give them a wee wake up call from up above!!!?! Hugs. Judith

Unless I could come up with alternative methods of security, I dare not criticize. The costs reflect the ‘times’ where terrorism AND supposedly ‘non violent’ protesters know how to ruin a party, or in this case, a Summit. (documentaries of professional mercenary protesters will long be in my memory.)
Face-to-face is impt and if we are to reach any sort of harmony in the world, it is through face-to-face leader meetings. I don’t see how PM Harper could avoid this cost given the circumstances and I feel he is getting ‘bad’ press by design.
Perhaps NCC could suggest alternatives while keeping the ‘meetings’ fruitful, worthwhile and with integrity?

Why not rent a cruise ship to hold their meetings,they could sail off to sea,thus no need for security?

The meeting should not proceed. (period)

These scumbags should pay for their own security. Alternatively, these central bankers should let their member banks pay for the meeting, as they are flush with cash (note: record second quarter profits for Canada’s chartered banks - hooray, wonder who’s is being bilked for that).

Take note of who is prospering in this economic collapse. All industries are failing, however banking is making record profits. How rigged is this system, against the people?

Prepare for the greatest transfer of wealth in history! Save your family and stock up on gold/silver, food, water and consumables!

God help us from the bankers!

The ridiculous location is part of the problem. The government could save us great expense by holding the conference in a desolate area instead - there is plenty of unused real estate in northern Canada or they could rent a piece of farmland in the south for a week. It is much easier to seal out lunatics from a deserted place than it is to try to weed them out of downtown Toronto, which seems to be overrun with lunatics in its normal state.

These costs are not reasonable. I believe world leaders need to talk, face to face, to solve problems. If the security costs are so high, then the idea of moving the conference around to different hosts seems be re-thought. I would suggest using a permanent site where permanent security is in place. UN headquarters would be an option. Another option would be to use a battleship as was done during the war.

If this meeting is necessay,why not put them on a boat in the middle of Lake Ontario.1.25 billion could lease a pretty good size ship without the disruption and expense of downtown.

rex murphy had it right- why spend 1 billion dollars to keep all these world leaders fenced off from torontonians?? they won’t see the city we won’t see them and quite frankly who cares what they are talking - meeting about!!

blowing 1 billion tax payer dollars while causing massive disruprion to the city and motorists makes about as much sense as spending 1 billion on e health care, with no deliverables!!- hmm sound familiar??

I can see that maybe face to face meetings are required (a lot of arm twisting goes on and that’s difficult and less effective over a video conference link) but if world leaders want to play tourist let them do it on their own dime. This sort of expense in out current economic climate is simply inexcusable. These conferences should either be held aboard a cruise ship somewhere (as John says) or in some other easily secured location (yes other John - Yellowknife in January sounds good) or in an already secured location (a military base). Yes I know you can’t expect world leaders to eat military rations or eat in an army cafeteria, but for far less that the cost of this mess you could build a decent meeting room and dining room and cover the catering cost. Downtown Toronto in June was just about the stupidest option they could have come up with. The costs aren’t final yet - the anarchists are going to cause untold damage to businesses and private property that the federal government is going to have to cover, and you know whose pocket that will come out of.

I am completely agast that our government would spend almost 1 billion dollars of taxpayer money on the G8 and G20 summits. This to go along with the 14 million plus for the inquiry on Mulroney just shows the complete lack of disregard for what is in the best interest of Canadians.

Canada is not the only nation suffering economically and even though we are not as bad off as most countries, to spend almost 1 billion dollars at this juncture shows a complete lack of financial restraint on the part of our government. If our government has this kind of money to throw around spend it on the needs of Canadians.

Time and time again our governments have shown a Canada second attitude where it comes to dishing out taxpayer money. We need governments that will put the interest of Canadians first instead of treating Canadians as second class citizens.

If a face to face meeting is important why not show the world a part of Canada that most will never see such as Alert on the tip of Ellesmere Island.
There would be very little if any security problems and no disruptive demonstrators to worry about.

Ridiculous! Why not have it in Houston BC. One road in and out. Four security guards should do the trick. One a/p close by. Import your cooks, butlers, etc. and put them up in tents! Let the bankers do some fishing in their spare time. Shouldn’t cost more than 100 grand!

A total disconnect from reality. We’re broke and throw away a billion $ on a gabfest and photo ops. That’s pretty expensive political points if that’s the point. All levels of government have lost respect for us and our hard earned money. People had better wake up soon. Maybe there won’t be any choice.

The billion dollar budget is about building the electronic control grid in Toronto, the way they did in Vancouver with the Olympics.

These measures are not for the G20 but for us after the G20 is over!

The good and proper citizens of Toronto deserve the inconvenience. They have adopted through elections the likes of neo-fascist Miller and neo-Marxist McGuinty, so who are they to complain about having a concentration camp set up in their midst? Canadian taxpayers, on the other hand, have a legitimate gripe. Spending a billion dollars to separate a couple dozen egomaniacal politicians from a couple hundred brain-dead anarchists surely constitutes the dumbest expenditure of wealth in Canadian history.

The cruise ship idea sounds good. Its first class, as this class of people are used to. Make sure there is lots of Gravol on board.

What a terrible waste of money.

I agree that it is a grand waste of taxpayer’s money. Living in the electronic age affords us the opportunity of saving money - use video conferencing and set Toronto free!

I have written the following leytter to my MP, Gary Lunn of Saanich-Gulf Islands (B.C.):

I am writing to protest your complicity in your party’s and government’s monstrous budget for security alone covering the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings in Ontario.

Let me tell you bluntly that there is not a shadow of a justification for over one billion dollars being budgeted for these events. The events themselves will accomplish nothing. Even if something worth while was realized — pray tell me what ? — the expenditure of over one billion dollars is a criminal waste. I am in the habit of judging you politicians as profoundly unethical people because it is seldom that you take action or launch policies which are stated to be, and are seen to be, for the good of all. Most of you spend your time calculating the advantage to
the party of such and such a measure.

I know that politics is a hard taskmaster. I know it is not easy to be a good politician. I know that most of you decide to go into politics with the best of intentions. But you make things difficult for yourselves by your perceived lack of integrity and honesty and transparency. (Statesmanship is beyond the imagining of any of you.)

You do not need to write back to justify the government’s action in this case. But if you do not come out publicly and oppose it, I will move heaven and earth to prevent your nomination or your election at the next election. But if you do take a principled public stand, I predict you could go very far. Certainly in the public’s esteem, and perhaps
even in the political world.

Jack Dixon
Saanich

Sir: Surely everyone inderstands the utter waste and folly of these meetings! Certainly, have the meetings, just don’t spend 1 billion dollars on them. This is an example of political overkill and the fact that the government has no idea that the money being spent represents an awful lot of work by ordinary Joes. Ordinary people, like you and me, simply can’t fathom how such sums of money are spent much less earned. But as citizens of Canada we have one reply to all of these issues and that is at the ballot box. If, if only there were really good opposition parties worth voting for.

I do not accept what they are saying about the Summit in the US last year
and the one in London hiding the full cost. Why would these countries have to hide the true cost of their summit meeting from their citizens. I do believe they are throwing out an exhorbitant amount of money, possibly to fund some of their friends businesses and in return fill their own coffers.
I’m afraid I dont trust politicians period as they have proven in the past to be a seedy,greedy bunch mostly out for their own gain. Mr Trudeau being a perfect example and not to forget Mr. Diefenbaker who cost thousnds their jobs.
As for our present prime minister, I think he is the better choice of what we have to choose from today and we must trust his cabinet but I would still like to see an audit to explain where 1.1 Billion dollars are going.

We will always have nations having their summit meetings. What the host country should do is charter a large cruise ship that has all the theatres, meeting rooms, food catering, statetooms PLUS onboard ship security. Have the ship sail from a small island with an airport and return to a different island. No chance for any mal-contents meeting there to make their expensive demostrations

Fortunately, I don’t live in Ontario, so I will only be impacted as a taxpayer.

I did send an email to my MP, saying that holding a summit in a major metropolitan area in the spring or summer is asking for trouble. That just makes it easy for the protesters.

If it must be held near a large city, then it should be done in January, so that even the most devoted anarchist will have to chill out.

If it must be held in the summer, then it should be done far from any large city, and the government could reserve all the motel rooms in the area during that week. Protesters would have to travel far and camp out. This is an option that European countries don’t have.

The response from my MP was a standard formula letter that did not mention my suggestions.

Freedom is an attitude! That being said, I think that the G20 summit should be focusing on eliminating ignorance and reducing third world debt.
As far as the cost goes, well look at it this way, if the government gets back 75% of all revenue in the form of tax, then the real cost is 25%of 1 billion dollars.

I agrre that world leaders (and ours one of the best) need to talk face to face. Video conferencing is not the same and does not produce the same results. However I also agree that a billion is way toooooo much. The simpler solution is to rent a cruise ship or aircraft carrier and hold the meetings where it wold be difficult and expensive for the wing nuts to be a problem. Better yet if they should get aboard, just dump them overboard.

Stop this insanity.This stupid meeting will only put Canada further behind the eight ball.Cancell the meeting and get back to managing our affairs in a responsible manner.

Peter, wake up and smell the coffee. Call a spade a spade when you see one. If you don’t see it by now, better open your eyes. These G20’s are secret because they trample the constitutions under foot. They do not have the life, liberty and security of you and I at heart, but the profit, plunder and control of those too stupid to see they evil they plot. Fortunately, God is just and will not allow this to continue much longer. Pray you will counted worthy to escape all that is about to happen in the coming years ahead.

The Ardent Libertarian.

Typical case of damn if you do and damn if you don’t. If the money is spent to grant protection to our visitors, the LIEberal/NDP/Green/Bloc will have a field day criticizing; if not enough money is spent and a disaster occurs, the same culprits will say that the government was inept and couldn’t protect our guests because they were too cheap.

It sure is easy to shoot your mouth off when you’re in opposition and with incompetent leaders. Oh well, there’s always the “proven” Bob Rae!

Having said that, I agree that videoconferencing may be the trick for our troubled economic times.

Pardon my ignorance.

If the meeting is good for the Country then Mr. Harper will be much informed. Mr. Harper means only the best for our country. I know of a lot of things Government spends on that are uterly stuped.

Two other things bother me about this article and others in the press. First as a summer resident of Muskoka, not one article has added into the silly soft costs that have been spent in a wide area of Huntsville. Like removing paving stones in downtown Bracebridge. The protesters might throw them from twenty five miles away. Closing the schools in the area sooner!.
The worst thing is that the press has known this huge cost spending for months. Seem to me that they wait till the last to just sell papers.

An incredible waste of time and money while at the same time an enormous interuption in the economic workings of the largest city in Canada. If someone could tell me what harebrained individual was responsible for bringing this debacle to our fine city I certainly would appreciate it.

Face to face is always better than ear to ear or eye to eye.

Will the out of control spending focus on merely filling enforcement pockets with extraordinary large sums of non taxable cash? Will this expenditure guarantee, complete and utter voting loyality, from all the hands that reach out?
There are any number of venues, where security would be a non-issue and as a result the spending would be in the thousands, not billions.
We have to blame the bureaucrats also and as usual,their fingerprints are all over this financial waste.

The over one billion dollar expense for the safety of a bunch of politicians and their flunkies on junket has convinced me that the inmates are now fully in charge of the asylum.

Neil Palmer is on the right track with his comments. These meetings should be held at a permanent facility on a remote island with a military base, which has a runway long enough to accomodate the largest jets (Airforce One) of the world’s glorious leaders. Diego Garcia comes to mind. It’s remoteness may, in and of itself initiate video conferencing.

Thanks for your continuing efforts to “put a boot to the neck”s of our governments to try to get them to stop overspending. With regard to the G8/G20 summits, money could have been saved by holding the meetings in a secret location with a publication ban on the location or a publication ban till the meetings ended.

Seeing how most of these mutts from socialist welfare (soon to failed) states want to ‘collectivize’ national economies into a global collectivized mess (to spread their debt liability management over to more productive economies), I think this was immorally wasted money.

No to G20 hosting costs
No to bank taxes
No to collectivizing/integrating G20 economies
No to IMF hegemony in national economic sovereignty.

I resent hosting these decadent collectivists and their search for international suckers to shore up their depleted economic systems and rapacious social welfare spending. Pee on ‘em.

Even though I don’t live in Toronto or Huntsville, I do know both places well! I this day and age it is stupid to allow these idiots who call themselves protesters come to our cities after the debacles in Vancouver and all of the other cities world wide, with the hi technology of Blackberry,
i pods etc. there is no need for the leaders of the world to come and make asses of themselves and let the protesters do the same! They leaders come up with the stupid ideas such as carbon tax, windmills, greening of the world, global warming etc, when it is all ways to take our hard earned money from our pockets! We have idiots like McGinty who will probably make a fortune with his friends and say “What a Good Boy I AM” it’s time to revolt! lets get rid of these idiots now! Our once great country is turning into a bunch of ME ME’s!
Everything for me with a different name!

The costs of hosting these high profile gettogethers is not worth it to the Canadian taxpayers. Have they heard of videoconferencing yet? I do not think that these meetings have any useful purpose as when decisions are made, they are normally reversed somewhere down the line. We are still in a recession, despite what our politicians want us to believe, and to spend our tax money so frivilously is irresponsible.

Why not hold the meeting at the Cold Lake (Alberta) Air Force Base? Security will not be a problem. There is a runway there for easy access for the talking heads. And it’s too far away for the noisy and empty-headed “protesters” to make the trip. Cheap. Secure. Quiet.