In a laughable attempt to justify the wasteful $1-billion boondoggle in spending on the upcoming G8/G20 summit, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he would rather waste hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars than use Canada’s armed forces to provide security – because he was afraid of Liberal opposition.

What Liberals oppose is the clueless lack of judgement that this government has demonstrated right from the start of the planning process for the summit.  Because practical concerns lost out to political calculations, the result is the most expensive 72 hours in history.

The proof is this stark comparison of federal government spending for major summits in Canada, between Liberal and Conservative governments:

Media reports now estimate that the G8/G20 summit costs could rise as high as $1.2 billion.  The Auditor General has now said she will conduct an examination into the security spending.