It’s never about how much it costs the taxpayer. It’s 100% about how much harper can use this as a wedge issue to fundraise from his base. This is not about standing up for Canada it is about protecting harper from impending defeat for being non-conservative fake.
You can always tell when a conservative has fallen out of favor; because their base start falling all over themselves to tell you that they [the one falling out of favor] “isn’t really a Conservative”