Canadians won't know Afghanistan price tag before election

New parliamentary budget officer will withhold report to avoid being dragged into politics

Ottawa (12 Sep 2008) - Canadians will cast ballots on Oct. 14 without knowing how many billions of dollars they have paid - and continue to pay - for the war in Afghanistan.

Kevin Page, Canada's first parliamentary budget officer, was appointed with much fanfare by the Harper Conservatives last March, but given a budget of only $2.5 million to do his job.

He has been working on a preliminary report to calculate the cost of the Afghanistan war to taxpayers but he has now decided not to release anything until after the election is over.

The cost of keeping 2,500 Canadian troops in Afghanistan is Page's first major study since his office was created. He was scheduled to give MPs his report in September. However, with Parliament dissolved his plans have been shelved. Page says he does not want to be drawn into an election debate.

Estimates of the National Defence portion of the bill have ranged between $6 billion and $7 billion, plus nearly $2 billion more in reconstruction and aid. But these numbers do not reflect costs incurred by other departments and agencies such as CIDA, veterans affairs, foreign affairs, the RCMP and Treasury Board.

Ottawa NDP MP Paul Dewar, who asked Page's office to prepare the report, says the information is critical for Canadians as they make up their minds how to vote. Such information is routinely provided in other countries, including the U.S. and Australia.

"When it comes to the war in Afghanistan we're in a vacuum," Dewar was quoted by CanWest News this week. "Until we have calculations from independent sources like the budget office we will be left playing political ping pong ... but this is not enough for an informed debate. It's a void in our system that was supposed to be filled by the parliamentary budget office."

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