Ottawa paid $31M for part of Lebanon evacuation: documents
Last Updated: Monday, October 30, 2006 | 10:05 AM ET
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
Canadians could learn more this week about the cost of the evacuation of Lebanon. CBC News has learned the federal government paid roughly $31 million for a portion of the transportation costs.
About 15,000 Lebanese-Canadians accepted Ottawa's offer of free passage to Canada from Lebanon this summer during the more than four weeks of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.
Most were taken from the port of Beirut by ship to either Cyprus or Turkey, where they caught flights to Canada.
Although Foreign Affairs says it is likely to be 2007 before they confirm the final cost, a number of sources from within government and non-governmental organizations tell CBC it could top $100 million.
CBC news has seen eight contracts handed out to transportation companies involved in the evacuation. They include:
- $18 million paid to three separate Cypriot companies for boats.
- $6 million paid to Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation, which brokered a number of flights.
- $6.5 million to Air Canada to operate six flights from the Middle East to Canada.
In total, Ottawa chartered 41 flights to remove people from the region.
Foreign Affairs isn't saying how much it paid for flights not included in the above contracts, which were operated by airlines such as Air Transat and Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier.
Besides the missing transportation costs, none of the more than $30 million in contracts CBC has seen covers hotel bills, food or water.
They also do not include overtime pay or travel costs for the nearly 400 government employees sent to Lebanon, Cyprus and Turkey to administer the complex evacuation.
Disclosure deadline Tuesday
However, more information surrounding the evacuation could be released this week because of a law passed by the former Liberal government requiring public disclosure of federal contracts worth more than $10,000. The deadline for disclosure for the summer quarter is Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is likely to face questions about the evacuation when he appears before a Senate committee examining the process.
A spokesperson for CARE Canada who was in Lebanon during the evacuation said it was difficult and expensive to operate there.
"There is a question of supply and demand which makes it very challenging," said Ali-Khan Rajani. "It becomes a costly operation."
Roughly six government departments and agencies involved in the operation are now haggling over who pays for what and which budgets to take the money from.
An earlier news report suggested the evacuation cost $85 million.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- New, tougher reforms to refugee legislation that hasn't yet come into force are already drawing fire from critics who say they give Canada's immigration minister too much power and risk the lives of claimants. more »
- Underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
- A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- A mother who hired a bodyguard to protect her bullied daughter says the girl had prepared a "suicide box" in case the violence became unbearable. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Officials in Airdrie are revealing few details about the fatal mauling of an infant by a family dog in the southern Alberta city. more »
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- New, tougher reforms to refugee legislation that hasn't yet come into force are already drawing fire from critics who say they give Canada's immigration minister too much power and risk the lives of claimants. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- A mother who hired a bodyguard to protect her bullied daughter says the girl had prepared a "suicide box" in case the violence became unbearable. more »
The National
The Current
- Time Banking - Prosperity without Cash Feb. 16, 2012 4:03 PM A look at alternatives to cash in the economy, including the "time bank" movement where participants donate a hour of their labour or expertise in return for an equal amount of time from someone else
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- Degrassi's Wheels death announced, 5 years later
- Nortel collapse linked to Chinese hackers
- 2 small earthquakes rattle Vancouver Island
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
