OTTAWA - The federal government plans to spend $300-million on the G8 summit of industrial nations' leaders in Alberta this June, sources say, which is more than half the amount Jean Chrétien has pledged to relieve African poverty.
Had the G8 summit been held in Ottawa, as originally planned, the cost would have been about $120-million, government officials say.
The Prime Minister, who returned last night from a six-nation tour of Africa, has vowed to put African development at the top of the agenda of the G8 meeting, to be held in the mountain resort of Kananaskis, west of Calgary.
About 4,500 police officers and 6,000 soldiers will be involved in the massive security operation to guard the leaders of the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia in the event protesters make their way through the rugged mountains into the heavily guarded compound, sources say.
The huge expenditure is largely due to the fact that RCMP must set up the largest security perimeter in its history in the area surrounding the resort. The wooded, mountainous terrain poses a security risk not only from protesters but also potentially from terrorist snipers.
Sources say the government has not identified where the $300-million will come from, but note it is more than half the $500-million the Prime Minister has promised for an African Development Fund.
Mr. Chrétien said he wanted the summit moved to Kananaskis because of the possible repeat of violent protests seen at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec in April, 2001. That summit cost taxpayers an estimated $135.47- million.
John Reynolds, the interim Alliance leader in the Commons, expressed dismay at the cost of the 36-hour event, calling it "a feel-good project for the Prime Minister."
"That's $10-million an hour. It's not a very good example to show to anybody if we spend $10-million an hour to have a meeting of world leaders to talk about giving Africa half a billion dollars," he said.
"Why not just stay home and get on the telephone. There is modern technology today. Maybe the leadership should have a tele-conference and use the money to help the poor of Africa."
Mr. Reynolds said he suspects the price tag of the summit will be closer to $500-million because of hidden costs, particularly because of a security breach that saw the release of confidential details of the summit on the Internet.
In the House of Commons yesterday, Joe Clark, the Conservative leader, demanded to know how the government made the decision to hold the meeting in Kananaskis when it had originally been planned for Ottawa.
"This decision was taken by the Prime Minister on a whim without getting security advice or cost advice from anybody, and that is running a great risk for Canada," Mr. Clark said.
Martin Cauchon, the Justice Minister, would only say the government is proud to host the event in the Rocky Mountains, promising "it is going to be a wonderful event indeed."
Two years ago, the G8 summit on the Japanese island of Okinawa cost $1.182-billion -- 50 times as much as the two previous summits in Germany and Britain.
Some $133-million per G8 leader was spent on security, but some extravagances included spending $8.9-million on building a replica of then U.S. President Bill Clinton's Arkansas home.
Mr. Chrétien has been travelling the globe seeking support for a G8 plan to create a "most-favoured" list of African countries that would be rewarded with more aid money for introducing democratic and financial reforms.
As host of the G8 meeting, Mr. Chrétien has tried to build momentum for the group's Africa Action Plan by seeking pledges for increased aid from leaders such as Tony Blair and George W. Bush.
Mr. Bush has offered $10-billion and Britain has doubled its foreign aid commitments.
The federal government committed $500-million to a new Africa fund in last December's budget. Last month in Monterrey, Mexico, Mr. Chrétien said his goal is to increase Canada's foreign aid budget by 8% a year.
Details of the G8 plan are still being worked out, but the initiative is expected to build on a proposal presented by African leaders at last year's summit in Genoa.
That initiative, spearheaded by Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal, includes a commitment by African nations to improve their justice systems and end decades of corruption that critics say prevents aid from reaching the poorest citizens.
bfife@nationalpost.com
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