Security for 2010 Winter Olympics to cost $900M

    Feb. 20, 2009
    Budget for security more than five times the original estimate

    Source LexisNexis

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    Security for the 2010 Winter Olympics will cost $900 million, more than five times the original $175-million estimate.

    Federal and provincial officials released the budget today after more than year's worth of negotiations.

    The main argument has been how much each jurisdiction will pay to police the Games. The RCMP-led security team submitted their financial plan in November 2007 after revising the initial budget.

    That figure had been included in the Olympic bid book but was later discounted as being far too low.

    Games security will involved more than 8,000 people from agencies including RCMP, military and local police.