Budget for Iraq mission could remain hidden for months

Members of Parliament are being asked to vote Monday on the government’s proposed combat mission in Iraq but it may be some time before Canadians know just how much the mission will cost taxpayers.

Asked by iPolitics how much is being budgeted for the six-month mission unveiled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday, Treasury Board President Tony Clement avoided answering.

“I think that obviously we will have answers to that and they will be published in due course,” he said. “Obviously, this will be something that will be over and above the regular budget for the Canadian Forces.”

National Defence’s budget at the outset of the year was $18.6 billion.

Opposition MPs have complained that the Harper government has refused to answer their questions concerning the budget for the mission.

Clement said the budget for the combat mission in Iraq will be contained in the government’s supplementary estimates. The supplementary estimates are the mechanism through which Parliament authorizes changes to the government’s initial budget and main estimates to reflect events that take place over the course of a year.

However, if the government refuses to reveal the budget and insists on waiting until supplementary estimates are tabled in Parliament, the mission may be well underway or almost finished by the time Canadians learn the cost.

Normally, governments table supplementary estimates around three times each year. The Supplementary A estimates for 2014/15 were tabled in May and the Supplementary B estimates are usually tabled in October, which may be too soon for the cost of the combat mission to be included.

If that is the case, it may fall to the next set of supplementary estimates, which are usually tabled around late January or early February.

A six-month combat mission that starts in October would run until April.

Clement’s office has not yet responded to a question from iPolitics about which set of supplementary estimates are likely to contain the price tag and the spending authorization for the combat mission in Iraq.

Laurie Hawn, a Conservative MP and former fighter pilot, said it costs a fair amount to keep a CF18 in the air. While the official cost per hour, with all costs calculated, is about $40,000 an hour, the actual cost per hour for fuel is about $10,000 to $12,000.

NDP defence critic Jack Harris said it wouldn’t be the first time the government hid the true cost of a mission from Canadians, such as the air strikes campaign in Libya.

“We were told by the Minister of Defence at the time, Peter MacKay, this was going to cost $50 million, $50 or $60 million dollars. The price tag ultimately was $350 million.”

That kind of money can be used elsewhere, he said.

“If we’re talking about air strikes here, we’re talking about an enormous contribution and a significant commitment. Well, how much better could that money be used.”

Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author:  Elizabeth Thompson