Fight Cost

From the G & M:
"Ottawa says Islamic State mission cost to reach $528-million by next March"

 

The cost to Canada of waging war against Islamic State militants will exceed half a billion dollars by early next year, the government says. On Monday Prime Minister Stephen Harper used his Commons majority to extend Canada’s combat mission by 12 months and expand air strikes to Syria. Two days later, the full cost of the war started to emerge. Defence Minister Jason Kenney revealed Wednesday that Canada will spend about $406-million to extend the mission to the end of March, 2016; added to the bill for the first six months of the conflict, which Mr. Kenney has said is at least $122-million, the price tag has risen to $528-million.  A large portion of this is for the air strikes and sorties flown by Canadian fighter jets as well as two surveillance planes and a refuelling aircraft. The estimate includes money to replace worn-out equipment and to pay for more bombs. It also includes a contingency should costs rise further. The final tally will be higher: The estimates do not include the fairly high costs of shutting down the mission. The government is only revealing what it calls the “incremental costs” for the 18 months of fighting, a sum that does not include costs that would be incurred regardless of whether the planes and soldiers were stationed at home or posted abroad. Canada has six fighter jets dropping bombs on Islamic State targets in Iraq. After the Commons endorsement, Canadian warplanes are now expanding their fight to Syria. Also, as many as 69 special forces soldiers are aiding the fight in northern Iraq, acting as military advisers to Kurdish peshmerga fighters trying to push back Islamic State militants. About 600 Canadian Armed Forces personnel are supporting the air mission out of Kuwait.

 

 

^ It is always a good thing when a government opens up and lets its people know the true costs. ^

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-combat-mission-in-iraq-and-syria-to-cost-406-million-in-coming-year/article23745051/