Lebanon evacuation cost Ottawa $63-million-plus

Treasury Board officials say total price tag will be even larger than tabled estimate

Bill Curry, Globe & Mail, 31 Oct 06

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OTTAWA — The federal government spent at least $63-million evacuating Canadian citizens from Lebanon this summer during the Israeli conflict with Hezbollah, according to spending estimates tabled yesterday.

In light of the cost and scale of the operation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised in July that Canada would review its practice of paying to remove Canadians who have established themselves in other countries that become dangerous.

Part of that review will include a re-examination of the issue of dual citizenship, prompting concerns among some immigrant groups in Canada.

Federal Treasury Board officials say the total cost is larger given that departments such as Foreign Affairs would have also used existing budgets. The government could still opt to cover further costs of the July and August evacuations.

Reports surfaced last month pegging the total cost at $85-million to rent ferries and transport about 15,000 of the estimated 50,000 Canadians living in Lebanon.

"These are additional amounts to what had already been approved and spent," confirmed a senior Treasury Board official during a technical briefing about the government's supplementary estimates.

In tabling the supplementary estimates, the government is asking MPs to approve $9-billion in spending, including $955-million in defence spending and $1.6-billion for the Child Tax Benefit.

The latter amount is within the $1.9-billion a year the Tories promised to spend to offer families with children under six $100 a month per child, as well as a pledge to create new child-care spaces.

The estimates cover events that were unforeseen in the spring, as well as provide details on spending announcements made in the May 2, 2006, budget.

For instance, the estimates show the Defence Department is spending a total of $706-million on miniature uninhabited aerial vehicles and $11.5-million on acoustic weapon locating systems as part of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

Other expenditures outlined in the estimates include:

$122.2-million to forgive the debt of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia;

$495.5-million in increased social and equalization transfers to the provinces;

$393-million in public debt charges due to short-term increases in interest rates;

$873-million in support for farmers; and

$218.2-million for public infrastructure projects.