The cost to Canadian taxpayers to keep Prime Minister Stephen Harper safe since 2006 was estimated at $30 million.

The Canadian Press obtained the data through Access to Information laws. According to the statistics it got, the security bill on Harper's first year in office reached $10.7 million, which went up to $13 million the next fiscal year. Partial estimate for the current fiscal year places Harper's security cost at $5.6 million.

The huge amount includes transportation, communications, legal fees, training and equipment which counts firearms and ammunitions. But the bulk of the money was for salaries of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers assigned to the prime minister. Their payroll totaled $9.1 million for the current fiscal year compared to $7.5 million the prior year.

Chris Mathers, an international expert on security, explained the high cost was dependent on the threats to Harper's safety. "Whether the prime minister chokes on a chicken bone or someone tries to shoot him and he's injured, they have to know where the closest hospital is, how to get him there, is there a helicopter to Medevac him out - right down to who takes him and who stays and shoots it out if it's a group of terrorists... But primarily, the biggest variable cost when dealing with the protection of a public person is the threat assessment," Mathers told the Canadian Press.