When it comes to hosting unprecedented back-to-back G8 and G20 summits, it's the little things that add up to a lot.
Like, almost $1.2 billion.
A pen and paper, perhaps, a painting or a book about Muskoka -- these gift bag additions for an estimated 15,000 international delegates, leaders and journalists expected to attend the Canadian summits have contributed to its $1.18-billion price tag.
While much has been made of the $930-million security cost, there is also the matter of $250 million in "additional costs" which experts describe as anything from facilities to transportation to food to technology to yes, even gift bags.
The costs also reflect the $50-million Legacy Fund which has drawn criticism from the Liberals who say the money is being "pork-barrelled" into Industry Minister Tony Clement's Muskoka-area riding for projects unrelated to the G8.
Similar to past summits, most of the money is for security. In Canada, it appears this is being done on a larger and more expensive scale, which independent researchers say is the result of hosting two summits and also the fact that Canada may have to make up for security measures that other countries, such as the United States, already have in place.
In Canada, summit security is expected to comprise thousands of uniformed officers, private guards and soldiers, analysts, aerial surveillance, closed-circuit cameras and motorcades of up to 50 vehicles.
The RCMP has requested almost $500 million in extra money since the budget for summit operations, including communications technology and accommodation facilities.
There is also a three-metre high concrete and metal security fence being erected in downtown Toronto at a cost of $5.5 million.
According to experts, the "additional costs" likely encompass everything from additions to the G20 International Media Centre in downtown Toronto, housing, transportation and overtime for security officers, logistical items, food, infrastructure, cable, computer and communications technology and gifts, said Jenilee M. Guebert, director of research at the G8 and G20 groups for the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
Delegations pay for their own accommodations, said Guebert, with entourages that can run up to 200 for such leaders as U.S. President Barack Obama or Chinese President Hu Jintao. But those people still need to be fed, transported, and hosted, she said.
At the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., where the G8 is being held Friday and Saturday, the Canadian government is footing an approximate $150,000 bill for a day-and-a-half of use, said resort spokesperson Anne White.
Some say the costs reflect the successive nature and central location of this year's summits.
"It's expensive, and there's definitely a rise in expenses from previous G20s, and certainly going back in Canada from previous G8s. But you know, my line on this is that this is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime perspective. I don't think there will ever be a dual summit again," said Andrew Cooper, a summit analyst at the think-tank the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
According to the Munk School for Global Affairs it cost about $40 million to host two G20s last year in Pittsburgh and London, England.
Last year's G8 summit in Italy cost $124 million US for security, compared with Canada's approximate $442 million for the G8 alone.
G8/G20 Waste Clock
The Liberals have been staunch critics of the cost of the summits, and added to the pot on Monday by launching a "G8/G20 Waste Clock," an online site that calculates almost $5,000 a second in real time to reach $1.1 billion in 62 hours, to illustrate "the amount of waste over the summit."
"The costs are huge, the amount is extravagant," said Liberal MP Mark Holland, who criticized the Conservatives for hosting the summits in two different locations, a decision he says ups the costs considerably.
He also expressed concern over reports that the Privy Council Office awarded almost one-third of its contracts retroactively.
While Cooper conceded there are problems associated with hosting these summits -- such as cost, risk of vandalism and inconvenience for residents -- he said there are positive elements as well.
"In terms of boosterism for Ontario, for Toronto, I think you get a lot out of it," he said.
In the end, said Guebert, it's difficult to say whether the host country will get its money's worth.
"Certainly some people would feel that you can't measure the monetary value of the summit, because they're often looking at things such as what the leaders are actually deciding themselves and what they do in terms of value for global governance," she said.