Opposition calls ballooning Pan Am security cost unacceptable

The cost of security for the Pan Am Games has more than doubled, sparking outrage at Queen’s Park.

The original security estimate for the games, in the bid budget, was pegged at $121 million in 2009, but has now ballooned to $247 million and is expected to rise.

Toronto was awarded the Games in 2009 and New Democrat Jagmeet Singh says the government should have started awarding contracts then instead of waiting until 2012.

“They could have put out the security contract years and years ago and saved us millions of dollars,” he said. “They still haven’t even secured all of the requirements for security yet and it’s nine months away.”

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released a report on Wednesday about the handling of the security contact to private company Contemporary Security Canada (CSC).

She noted that questions were raised in March when CSC’s bid for the project was $14 million over its closest competitor but says that all government procurement policies were abided by in the selection process.

“The selection processes used to procure CSC were fair and transparent, complied with government procurement policies and applied lessons learned from other similar sporting events,” Lysyk wrote.

Singh says the report points out huge gaps in the current security plan, which will increase the total cost.

“The auditor general makes it very clear that this government has left a huge security gap where they’ve allowed security for one component, which involves the equipment and the assets, but they don’t have security for the actual fields of play,” he criticized. “That seems to be something very basic and they haven’t done that.”

Deputy OPP Commissioner Brad Blair said the threat level was increased last month after a gunman shot a soldier at the Ottawa war memorial before storming Parliament Hill, where he was fatally shot by security.

“The threat level has changed, which means there’s a heightened awareness, not only within law enforcement but also with the general public,” said Blair. “Until we see a specific threat to these games, I would say our planning principles would not change.”

Arrangements to ensure athletes and officials have secure access to the field-of-play zones at Pan Am venues and to protect the athletes and their equipment are behind schedule, warned Lysyk.

The CSC declined a request by CityNews for an interview.

View the below interactive chart comparing security costs at four international sporting events. Data courtesy of the auditor general’s special report. Mobile viewers, click here.

With files from The Canadian Press

Correction: The story originally said the budget was $121 million in March.