Olympics security costs rise five-fold to $1-billion
Received:: February 2, 2009 | Category:: regnad
TORONTO, VANCOUVER — Security costs for the 2010 Winter Olympics are now anticipated to come in at just under $1-billion, an amount in the upper range of recently revised official estimates and more than five times what was budgeted when Vancouver won the right in 2003 to host the Games.
Federal officials who say they are familiar with the “very sensitive” matter confirmed the budget figure, but refused to shed further light on the billion-dollar package.
With barely more than a year to go before the Games begin, Ottawa has yet to disclose publicly what will be far and away the Olympics’ largest single, government-funded item. There was no mention of Olympic security in Tuesday’s federal budget.
Keeping the Games safe from terrorist attacks and free of disruptions from activists has been described as the largest peacetime security operation in Canadian history, with more than 12,000 police, private security personnel and members of the armed forces expected to be deployed.
via globeandmail.com: Olympics security costs rise five-fold to $1-billion.