Music: {allcanada} Auditor General: Pan Am security budget too low

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

{allcanada} Auditor General: Pan Am security budget too low

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TORONTO — Ontario's auditor general says the security budget for the Pan Am Games in Toronto next summer was too low, and warns purchasing of security services is behind schedule.

Auditor Bonnie Lysyk says the Ontario government's decision to award the contract for most private security at the Games to Contemporary Security Canada was fair, even though at $81 million it was $14 million higher than the next lowest bid.

Lysyk says the only concern raised in an audit was that the budget for security procurement "was understated and should have been more accurate."

Pan Am organizers now estimate security costs at $247.4 million, more than double the original estimate of $121.9 million in Toronto's bid for the Games.

The security bill is just a fraction of the nearly $900 million spent on security at the Vancouver Olympics, but officials believe there is a lower risk profile at the Pan Am Games, with far fewer high-profile dignitaries expected to attend.

In September, the province had to pump another $74 million into the Games, most of it because of lower than expected sponsorship revenues.

The government was criticized for not including the $709 million cost of the athletes' village in its original $1.4-billion budget for the Games, which now is expected to top $2.57 billion.

"The budget for security services has increased significantly as planning for the Games has progressed," concluded Lysyk. "It could increase even more depending on future risk and threat assessments and changes in the scope of the Games."

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