News for Youse: Surrey summit costs, fudge-it budget, and McMynn's kidnapper loses

Surrey summit costs CBC has discovered through an access-to-information request that it cost the RCMP $45,000—including $9,000 for a helicopter—to provide security for former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at last October's Surrey Regional Economic Summit.

Kidnapping ruling The Supreme Court of Canada has issued a decision dismissing an appeal by one of Vancouver resident Graham McMynn's kidnappers, Sam Tuan Vu, to have his conviction overturned because he wasn't involved in the initial abduction in 2006.

Fudge-it Budget B.C. auditor general John Doyle has declared that if the provincial government had prepared its summary financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, last year's deficit would have been $520 million higher at $2.36 billion.

Crown corporation pay After former premier Gordon Campbell dramatically jacked up the pay of executives at government-owned companies, the B.C. government has announced a freeze and the phasing out of incentive pay for new nonexecutive staff.

Eby moves on Lawyer David Eby has resigned as executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, prompting speculation that he will seek the NDP nomination in Vancouver–Point Grey for a rematch against Premier Christy Clark after narrowly losing a by-election to her last year.

Khadr surprise The wife of Defence Minister Peter MacKay, former Vancouver resident Nazanin Afshin-Jam, says she thinks that Omar Khadr, a Canadian held in Guantanamo Bay, will be returned to Canada.

Merkel visit The Prime Minister's Office has announced that German chancellor Angela Merkel will make her first visit Canada on August 15 and 16, possibly in response to Stephen Harper's hardline on European bailouts.

Nuclear workers Four years ago, a Japanese economics professor, Kazumitsu Nawata, issued a warning that the nuclear-power industry's reliance on subcontractors' workers to do the most dangerous tasks at reactors—and now, they've been shown to have much higher radiation levels than regular employees.

Soccer loss The Canadian women's Olympic soccer team came up short yesterday, losing 2-1 to the defending world champion, Japan, in their first match of the tournament.