Security for Vancouver Olympics expected within budget at $1 billion

Vancouver Olympic security may cost less than $1B

OTTAWA — The head of security for the Vancouver Olympics says the cost of providing protection for the 2010 Winter Games shouldn’t go over budget — and may be less than expected.

Ward Elcock told a House of Commons committee on Thursday that he doesn’t anticipate asking the federal government for more than the roughly $1 billion already budgeted.

He said the cost of security could actually be less than projected — provided there are no major security incidents.

The committee was told the most daunting security challenge so far has been the logistics of transporting 6,000 police officers from 118 separate police forces into British Columbia in time for the February event.

A security exercise will be held next week.