Cost of Afghan war now a state secret, Tories sayNational Post: In a significant policy shift, the Canadian government now believes that telling the country's taxpayers the future cost of the war in Afganistan would be a threat to national security... The Defence Department cited a national security exemption when it censored a request under the Access to Information Act by the federal NDP for the military costs of Canada's participation...
The military's new secrecy comes after the financial cost of the mission became a major issue for several days during last fall's federal election campaign.
During the campaign, after he secured the agreement of all parties including the ruling Conservatives, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page released a detailed report that suggested the full cost of the mission could reach $18.1-billion by 2011. Mr. Page's study took into account the long-term costs of caring for physically and mentally ill soldiers...
In a recent speech, Defence Minister Peter MacKay touted the price tag of the government's program to buy new equipment for the military, telling an audience of defence contractors and lobbyists that the government would spend $60-billion on new capital acquisitions by 2028...
Last year's figures showed the cost ballooning to $1.007-billion for 2007-08 and projected they would reach $1.009-billion by 2008-09. But this year's figures show that the cost for 2008-09 was higher than projected, at $1.190-billion. 'Some of the existing numbers changed so dramatically. It's not clear what the reason was for it,' [NDP defence critic Jack] Harris said.
