Thank you, Chair.
Guidelines have been prepared to address situations where the Government of Canada considers payments to commercial businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals to compensate for consequences as a result of extraordinary security measures implemented at international meetings such as the G-8 and G-20. The guidelines in place are fair and have been effective in the past. These are the same guidelines that were in place for the summit of the Americas in Quebec City and the Kananaskis summit before that.
As we all know, these summits attracted delegations from over 20 countries. In addition to the member nations, international agencies and outreach nations were in attendance. In total more than 10,000 delegates participated. Coverage of the summits also drew a media contingent of approximately 5,000 people.
Canada had an obligation to protect the heads of state who participated at these summits, as well as Canadians and international visitors. The RCMP led an integrated security unit, and its security partners spent a great deal of time planning for this complex security operation. As a result of these efforts, a comprehensive approach was developed to ensure a safe and secure environment for all involved.
Our government has been clear from the start: hosting two major international summits would generate significant security demands. Planning involved input from all security partners. What unfolded in Toronto serves as proof that our vigilance was warranted and our security planning justified. I am proud of how well our security partners conducted themselves under exceptionally difficult circumstances.
Final figures and evaluations are currently being compiled by the integrated security unit. An independent civilian review is being undertaken by the Toronto Police Services Board. Ontario's ombudsman has announced that he'll be looking into the role the province played. As I've already mentioned, the Auditor General will be conducting a review.
Are we saying no to this committee studying the matter, as some in the press have suggested? Absolutely not. As we have said from the start, we will remain open and transparent, but we will serve Canadians better by waiting until the integrated security unit has had a chance to complete its work. We on the government side believe we owe it to the victims of those thugs, hooligans, and anarchists to do this properly. This means waiting to study the issue once all the facts are available.
Mr. Chair, those would be my comments relative to the orders of the day that have been presented to this committee. This whole day here today is costing Canadians a lot of money needlessly. It's premature. There are other bodies looking into this that at this point are more appropriate.
This simply comes down to trying to justify to those people who went to Toronto to break the law, to disrupt everyday lives in Toronto, that it's okay. We're saying it's not okay. More importantly, we do believe there are other bodies in place that are currently looking at this situation. We need to wait until they've finished their work before we start on some sort of campaign here to demoralize the police and other people who did a great job for Canadians.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.