Bug spray, portable potties drove up summit costs

OTTAWA—Mosquito traps, mass casualty kits, glow sticks and a futuristic new weapon meant to stop speeding boats dead in the water were among the purchases on Ottawa’s $1-billion tab for hosting the G8 and G20 summits.

New documents provide fresh details on how the government rang up such a big bill and also give a hint of the security gear police relied on to protect the world leaders.

As presidents and prime ministers met inside Muskoka’s Deerhurst Resort, it appears that police patrolling a nearby lake had a secret weapon to stop anyone who attempted to breach the property by boat.

Ottawa paid $43,179 for a “running gear entanglement system,” branded by one British newspaper as a “James Bond Harpoon.” A special gun fires a line of high-tensile rope into the path of an oncoming boat. The rope snags the boat’s propeller and stalls the engine.

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What a boondoggle. Tom

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